J-Rod's split-second gamble looms large in crushing walk-off loss

BOSTON -- Julio Rodríguez had just 2.9 seconds to make a decision on Monday night.

And it was one that would swing the fates of how a tense back-and-forth game between the Mariners and Red Sox would play out at Fenway Park.

Seattle’s center fielder saw a 106.5 mph screamer coming at him off the bat of Roman Anthony to lead off the bottom of the ninth. And then, after his slight hesitation, the worst possible outcome played out.

“It's super quick. It's right at you,” Rodríguez said. “My instincts were telling me to go for it, and being in between, I feel like it's not an option. So I just went for it, couldn't get it. Unfortunately, that ended up costing a run for us.”

In that hesitation, the ball sliced and sank in front of Rodríguez, then bounced over his head as he slid trying to stop it and raced to the wall, ending up as a leadoff triple. With Andrés Muñoz attempting to secure his first four-out save, Anthony scored on a sacrifice fly two batters later. That tied a game that the Mariners led by three runs with just four outs to go.

Then in the 10th, they were walked off in a 9-8 loss.

“It's frustrating, when we're all trying to get things [going], trying to build momentum and have a game where we had like so many things offensively that we did well,” Rodríguez said. “And then, it just kind of feels like a little shot in the foot right there.”

In a season that they’ve found more exasperating ways to lose, this one had a sense of speechlessness to it.

Seattle is 10 games under .500 (64-74) for the first time since June 20, 2022. And with just 24 games remaining, the Mariners have fallen six games out of first place in the American League West and 5 1/2 out of the final AL Wild Card spot.

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This night was shaping up to be a win that Seattle badly needed, featuring homers from Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena, who finished a triple shy of the cycle and with four RBIs.

The conversation would’ve -- and should’ve -- centered on the offense rebounding after being held to just one hit the day prior, which felt like a new rock bottom as the Mariners were swept in Toronto.

Instead, Monday revealed that there are deeper depths of despair.

“Throughout this whole year, I feel like, collectively, it has been tough,” Rodríguez said. “We definitely had some bright spots, and Randy and doing all that. But collectively, it has been a little tough. And I feel like all we can do right now is just focus on winning ball games, however it looks like. That's all I'm trying to do.”

This game didn’t fall exclusively on that one play, though it loomed largest. Per Baseball Savant, Seattle’s odds to win dropped by 35.7%, making it the biggest swing of the game for either team.

“We caught a break there," said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. "Obviously, even if [Rodríguez] slides, if he's able to kind of knock it down, it's just a single, but it gets by and puts us in a really good position.”

Had Anthony been held to a single, he likely would have remained there, as Muñoz retired the next three batters, including Ceddanne Rafaela's sacrifice fly to deep left that scored Anthony. Arozarena’s relay throw on that one was nearly in time, but Anthony slid in front of the plate and around Cal Raleigh’s tag.

From there, Boston was in the driver’s seat behind its ageless closer, Aroldis Chapman, who stranded the automatic runner on third base after a sacrifice bunt from Victor Robles. The Mariners also stranded a runner on third in the top of ninth, after Canzone ripped a leadoff triple into Fenway’s center-field triangle.

Had Canzone come around to score, it would’ve been a huge insurance run that maybe changed the outcome, too. But Rodríguez, Raleigh and Josh Naylor -- the heart of the order -- each grounded out against reliever Alec Gamboa.

“That's a huge insurance run in this park, and we just weren't able to do it,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.

Seattle also only came away with one run after loading the bases with no outs in the fifth. But eight runs should’ve been enough, had it not been for George Kirby getting tagged for five runs and Eduard Bazardo giving up a two-run double to Trevor Story with two outs in the eighth.

“It's definitely tough,” Rodríguez said. “We have another thing to add on to our plate. But we're gonna keep going.”