Derek Jeter's mental lapse contributes to Mariners win (VIDEO)

Derek Jeter's reputation for giving foul balls to little kids in the stands is pretty well documented, but this charitable intention gave the Mariners a triple and helped contribute to a Yankees loss Monday night.

Jeter's rare mental lapse was scored as a "triple to shallow left," but that's really understating what happened after he was ready to give what he thought was a foul ball to a little fan.

Kyle Seager of the Mariners hit a pop up down the left-field line. Jeter, who was playing near third base in a shift, and left fielder Brett Gardner gave chase, with Gardner attempting a sliding catch. The ball popped out of his glove and bounced into Jeter's hands, who almost caught it. When the ball hit the ground, Jeter nonchalantly jogged after it, his back to the rest of the field.

Then Jeter spotted the young fan in the stands and almost handed him the baseball.

"It's a good thing I didn't," the brain-frozen Jeter said.

The Jeter gaffe was a big reason David Phelps allowed a leadoff triple in the fourth inning of Monday's 10-2 loss to the Mariners at Yankee Stadium.

"It never even crossed my mind it was fair," Jeter said.

Phelps said later he thought he might get in trouble for yelling "Throw the ball!" at Jeter from near the pitcher's mound.

But Jeets said he wished the entire stadium was screaming at him.

"I wish the fans would have yelled," Jeter said. "But they wanted the ball."

Phelps — who now has the rare distinction of telling the Yankees Captain what to do — said he didn't fault Jeter.

"I was just hoping he didn't toss the ball into the stands," the pitcher said later. "It looked like a foul ball."