Julio Rodriguez became a club of one in the record books of the Mariners with his homer against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
The story was updated at 10:07 p.m. PT on include postgame quotes from Seattle manager Dan Wilson.
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners entered Monday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies at T-Mobile Park in desperate need of a bounce back after a 19-2 trouncing at the hands of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
It took one inning for Seattle's offense to respond from the blowout the day before, and one of the team's superstars made team history in the process.
Down 1-0 entering the bottom of the first, Mariners left fielder Randy Arozarena drew a seven-pitch walk and right fielder Dominic Canzone followed with a single.
With runners at first and second with no outs, center fielder Julio Rodriguez stepped to the plate and quickly found himself down 0-2 in the count. Rodriguez hit a laser of a three-run home run to left field, putting Seattle in front 3-1.
That homer was the first of the inning for the M's. Catcher Cal Raleigh had a multi-run blast of his own three batters later — a one-out, two-run shot to right field that bolstered the home team's lead to 5-1.
The 392-foot, 109-mile per hour blast was Rodriguez's 20th of the season. Per a graphic shared on the television broadcast on Mariners TV, Rodriguez became the only player in Mariners history to begin his career with five-consecutive seasons of at least 20 home runs.
The star outfielder made his major league debut in 2022 and has been one of the faces of the franchise since, making the All-Star game in three of his five seasons and helping lead the team to their first two playoff appearances since 2001, and first American League West title since that season.
Rodriguez has been plagued with slow starts in his five-year career, with the caveat that they're often followed by strong second halves. It's been the inverse this season. After Rodriguez's three-run homer Monday, the 25-year-old has slashed .249/.312/.414 with a .726 OPS in 121 games and has hit 18 doubles and 20 homers with 56 RBIs. He's stolen 16 bases in 19 attempts.
"Extremely talented," M's manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview Monday. "As we've talked about before, this game is all about consistency. And to (hit 20 home runs) five years in a row, that's consistency. Those are high marks, high bars to reach and he's been able to do it very consistently. He's a very talented player and that's why he's among the greats in this organization and in baseball in general."
Seattle entered Monday three games out of first place in the American League West and as many games out of the final wild card spot in the American League.
The Mariners are still in full control of their own destiny, and will need continued output from Rodriguez and the rest of their star players if they hope to make it consecutive playoff appearances and/or division titles.
