Yikes!

Sep 13, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners right fielder Victor Robles (10) slides safely into home plate to score a run during the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images / Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

The Seattle Mariners were dealt a potentially season-altering blow with Victor Robles, their sparkplug, having to leave Sunday’s game early due to a leg injury. The Mariners making one last postseason push without Robles felt next to impossible to accomplish, so thankfully, the outfielder was available and in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s series opener against the New York Yankees.

Injury concern for Robles mounted when he was drilled by a 91.7 mph fastball in the hand from Luis Gil. Fortunately, he was okay, remained in the game, and even went out to Gil acknowledging that he knew it wasn’t on purpose.

Two of the next three batters after Robles drew walks, loading the bases with one out for Luke Raley, one of their best left-handed hitters. Seattle had a chance to turn what was a 2-0 deficit into a tie game with a single or even a lead with an extra-base hit. Unfortunately, Raley popped out, opening the possibility of Seattle failing to score a run despite getting the leadoff man on and loading the bases with one out.

That’s where Robles, the sparkplug, took matters into his own hands. Trying to catch Gil and the Yankees sleeping, he attempted to steal home and was thrown out, ending the inning. It was an extremely risky decision that, obviously, could not have panned out any worse.

Victor Robles bails out Yankees with base running gaffe of the year

First of all, Robles trying to provide a spark makes a lot of sense. Seattle has been starved for offense virtually all season long, the Mariners were already trailing, and had slim odds of even making it to the postseason entering the game. The problem is that this decision in particular was not a smart one, and it cost the Mariners in a major way.

It was abundantly clear in the inning that Gil had no command of his pitches. He hit Robles with a pitch and walked two others. He even went to a 3-2 count on Julio Rodriguez who he retired for the first out of the inning. He had thrown a ton of pitches, and was on the verge of potentially walking his third batter of the inning and walking in a run. Robles let him get away with it without forcing him to throw a strike to Justin Turner, a player who has routinely come up big in clutch moments throughout his career.

I’m all for trying to make something happen, but there’s a time and place for a play like that. Robles attempting that when Gil had absolutely no command of the strike zone and the Mariners had him on the ropes against a Yankees team that had just taken the lead was not the right time. It killed a rally and could easily come back to cost the Mariners a game that they absolutely had to have. The reward in that spot did not come close to outweighing the risk when considering all of the context from that inning.

The Mariners would almost certainly not be where they are currently without Robles, a player they signed in early June after he was released by the Washington Nationals, but that does not absolve him from criticism. This was a mistake, and a potentially damaging one if the Mariners fail to complete a comeback.