Watch: Mariners CF Julio Rodríguez homers in 2nd straight game
May 26, 2024, 1:33 PM | Updated: May 27, 2024, 7:59 pm
Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners rounds the bases after homering Saturday against the Nationals. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
(Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
It took Seattle Mariners slugger Julio Rodríguez 52 games to hit his first two home runs of the season.
It took him less than 24 hours to hit his next two.
After blasting his third homer of the season on Saturday, Rodríguez homered again in the Mariners’ 9-5 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday. It was part of a big day at the plate for the 23-year-old center fielder, who went 3-for-5 with a season-high four RBIs. Prior to Sunday, he hadn’t driven in more than two runs in a game all season.
Julio stars as Mariners snap 4-game skid, rally to beat Nationals 9-5
Rodríguez’s homer came on the first pitch of the fourth inning, when he drove an 89 mph sinker from Nationals starter Patrick Corbin over the left-center field fence to give Seattle a 2-0 lead. The ball traveled 423 feet and registered a 108.8 mph exit velocity, according to Statcast.
J-Rod has gone deep in consecutive games. 💥 pic.twitter.com/kcLfkGkjui
— MLB (@MLB) May 26, 2024
Rodríguez also was at the center of the Mariners’ eighth-inning rally. He tied the game with a one-out RBI single up the middle, stole second base and then scored on a two-out RBI single by Ty France to give Seattle a 6-5 lead. Rodríguez then drove in two more runs in the ninth, lining a two-RBI single to right field to make it 9-5.
Prior to his home run on Saturday, Rodríguez was mired in an 0-for-17 slump and had gone 11 games without an extra-base hit. Mariners manager Scott Servais dropped Rodríguez to the No. 6 spot in the order for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but moved him up to the No. 3 spot for Sunday’s game.
Rodríguez has lacked the power production this year that helped make him one of the game’s best young talents over his first two MLB seasons. He blasted 28 homers as a rookie in 2022 and 32 homers in 2023, slashing a combined .279/.338/.495 with an .834 OPS over those two seasons. Through 53 games this year, he is hitting .260/.306/.340 with just four homers, five doubles and a .646 OPS.
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