Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager ripped four extra-base hits Monday night during his team’s 10-2 demolition of the New York Yankees, but one of them should come with an asterisk.
After tripling to lead off the second inning and scoring the Mariners’ first run, Seager came to bat again in the fourth and blooped a fly ball down the line in shallow left field. A sliding Brett Gardner couldn’t make the catch, but shortstop Derek Jeter was trailing on the play and quickly scooped up the bouncing ball.
That should have held Seager to a single, but Jeter, unaware that the ball had fallen in fair territory, took his time getting it back to the infield, nearly giving it away to a fan before realizing his mistake. By that time, Seager was standing on third with his second triple in as many at-bats.
“It was kind of a odd play for me, because I was playing in at third for a bunt and ended up going back for a popup,” Jeter said after the game, via Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. “The popup started going foul, so I was running in foul territory then came back, so it never even crossed my mind that it was fair. I almost gave it to a fan. I’m glad I didn’t. I thought it was foul at the time because I was in foul territory.”
Seager continued to rake as the game progressed, adding a home run and a double to accomplish the rare feat of falling a single short of the cycle. He was also the first player to hit two triples, one homer and one double in a game since Hal Breeden did so for the Montreal Expos in 1973, according to STATS.
