ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Seattle Mariners slugger Julio Rodríguez was unable to dodge a grounder in the third inning of Saturday night’s to the Los Angeles Angels.
Rodríguez was attempting to steal third base when Randy Arozarena’s 98-mph grounder that appeared headed through the shortstop hole hit Rodríguez on top of his right ankle, knocking him out of the game.
The two-time American League All-Star got better news later in the evening when X-rays on his ankle were negative, and Rodríguez was listed as day-to-day with a contusion.
“It’s kind of a day-to-day thing, we’ll see how it goes,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said after his team’s fifth consecutive loss. “But it could have been a lot worse.”
Rodríguez, who is batting .254 with 10 homers and 32 RBIs in 61 games, had singled and scored on Cal Raleigh’s three-run homer in the first inning and singled and stole second base to open the third.
With one out and Arozarena batting against Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz, Rodríguez took off for third. He heard the crack of Arozarena’s bat, but the ball struck him just as he was about to turn his head to look for it.
Arozarena was credited with a single. Rodríguez was ruled out and remained on the ground near the third-base coaching box for a minute or two before being escorted back to the dugout.
“At first, it was very painful — like I couldn’t really feel my foot a whole lot or move it a whole lot,” he said. “But after they started treating it, the swelling went down, and everything started reacting better right away. So that made me feel really good. …
There’s a high chance that I should be in the lineup (Sunday).”
Rodríguez’s absence was felt immediately. Leody Taveras took over in center field and misjudged Zach Neto’s flare to lead off the bottom of the third. The ball dropped in front of him and then bounced away for a single and an error.
Neto scored on first baseman Rowdy Tellez’s fielding error, and Chris Taylor followed with a catchable drive to the gap in right-center.
But Taveras mistimed his leap on the warning track, and the ball clanged off the palm of his glove hand for an RBI double that tied the score at 4 and erased the Angels’ four-run second-inning deficit.
Angels center fielder Jo Adell broke the tie with his second homer of the game in the fourth, and the Angels pulled away with runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
“That’s a tough situation (for Taveras) coming off the bench there, and the ball finds him right away,” Wilson said. “He’s been so good for us, and he’s run a lot of balls down out there, so just a tougher night for him.”
___
AP MLB:
