Mariners stealing signs from second base to score 1st run off Casey Mize in ALDS Game 4 vs. Tigers

Billy Heyen

Mariners stealing signs from second base to score 1st run off Casey Mize in ALDS Game 4 vs. Tigers image

The Seattle Mariners appeared to have a tell on Casey Mize.

And it helped the Mariners get their first run of ALDS Game 4 in the second inning.

Josh Naylor doubled to set the wheels in motion.

With Naylor on second base, he began to make occasional signals with his arms while Eugenio Suarez hit.

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Suarez struck out, but when Dominic Canzone came up next, Naylor was gesturing again.

And on the splitter that Canzone singled on to score Naylor, the burly first baseman had held out his left arm as Mize prepared to pitch.

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To be clear: It's generally accepted in baseball that signs picked up within the lines are OK to be relayed. The implication is that the pitcher and catcher have to do a better job of disguising what they're doing if they don't want the runner on second base to share the signs.

It's still a big deal, though. It could be the kind of information that decides a game, especially if the Tigers don't figure out how to cover up their tell the next time a Mariners runner is on second base.

At the very least, it appears to have contributed to the opening run of the ballgame on Wednesday in Detroit, a game that could end the Tigers season.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle