ARLINGTON, Texas — Sam Tuivailala had the ball in his glove, ready to make a tag if need be. But he wasn’t going to let Rougned Odor score in a rundown. As the Mariners’ reliever went to take his first step to chase the speedy and shifty Odor up the baseline toward third base, he felt a pain the back of his right leg. Something wasn’t right as he tried to take another step. He stumbled and flipped the ball to catcher Mike Zunino before rolling into the infield grass.
“It happened so fast,” Tuivailala said. “I thought someone cleated me from the back and I started to go down.