From Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s perspective, everything about his stolen base attempt in the fifth inning Friday night unfolded poorly.
He got a bad jump against Rangers starter Dane Dunning.
He thought he was out on the throw.
He thought his foot slipped off the base.
He even thought he heard someone say, “Out.”
And since he wanted to help the Yankees’ video replay official know not to challenge, he jogged toward the dugout.
The umpire had called him safe, though.
So instead of potentially having a runner on second with no outs — with the score tied — a strange sequence extinguished a scoring chance.
Manager Aaron Boone thought that Kiner-Falefa would’ve been ruled out had the Rangers challenged, but Kiner-Falefa blamed his baserunning — and a fourth-inning error in center field — for the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Rangers on Friday.
“That’s another dumb play that can’t happen again,” Kiner-Falefa said. “That’s just a bonehead play that cost us a rally.”
Kiner-Falefa led off the fifth inning against his former team with a single, lining a ball that third baseman Josh Jung couldn’t collect.
On the steal attempt, Marcus Semien, after attempting to tag Kiner-Falefa as he slid, even appeared frustrated at the initial safe call.
Then, Kiner-Falefa — who has struggled at communicating in loud environments like Yankee Stadium — turned what would’ve been his ninth stolen base of the season into his fourth time getting caught.
“He heard ‘out,’ which was probably the player calling him out,” Boone said. “You gotta make sure there, right?”
Before his baserunning gaffe, Kiner-Falefa committed an error in the field during the fourth inning, when the Rangers had a runner on first and two outs against Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt.
Leody Taveras popped a ball into shallow center field, but Kiner-Falefa hesitated and got “caught in between,” he said, trying to play it safe while also locating shortstop Anthony Volpe.
The ball fell for a single — and then went underneath Kiner-Falefa’s glove.
That allowed Ezequiel Duran to score from first base, evening the score at 1.
Once a full-time infielder with both the Rangers and Yankees, Kiner-Falefa has emerged as a consistent piece of the Yankees’ outfield rotation this season after losing the shortstop battle to Volpe.
He had just one error at his new position this season, and his time in the lineup increased after injuries to Harrison Bader and Aaron Judge.
The first error, in the field, wouldn’t have mattered in a blowout victory.
But that second error, on the basepaths, prevented the Yankees from taking an early lead as their offense struggled again. Kiner-Falefa said the “game’s on me today” even after he singled and scored in the eighth inning to allow the Yankees to force extras.
“At the same time, if that run doesn’t score, we win the game right there in the ninth inning,” Kiner-Falefa said. “We don’t even go to the 10th.
“It’s something that can’t happen and hopefully won’t happen again.”
