Video: Ryan Bliss’ first HR caps Mariners’ seven-run inning
Jun 7, 2024, 6:00 PM
Ryan Bliss of the Seattle Mariners during a 2024 game. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
(Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
The Seattle Mariners put together an eventful top of the first inning on Friday night against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
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The Mariners saw one of their players hit his first career home run, another get his first hit with the team and another break a franchise record. They also scored seven runs in the inning, all coming with two outs.
The highlight of the inning came when rookie second baseman Ryan Bliss got ahold of a 93 mph fastball from Royals starter Daniel Lynch IV and deposited it into the stands in left-center field for his first career home run. Bliss’ homer traveled 421 feet, came off the bat at 106 mph and would have been a home run in every MLB stadium, per Statcast.
The homer capped the scoring and put Seattle ahead 7-0. It also drove in recently acquired outfielder Victor Robles. The 27-year-old Robles scored after collecting his first hit since joining the Mariners earlier this week. Robles hit a 107.4-mph double – the hardest-hit ball of the inning – in the previous at-bat to to drive in Mitch Haniger.
Haniger reached on his bases-clearing double that put the Mariners ahead 4-0. Ty France was one of the players that scored on the double, and he got on base by setting a painful Mariners record.
France was hit by a pitch for the 90th time in his career, surpassing Hall of Fame designated hitter Edgar Martinez (89) for sole possession of the all-time lead. Seattle’s first baseman set the mark in about one-quarter of the games Martinez played. His 90th hit by pitch came in his 534th game and 2,255th plate appearance with the Mariners. Martinez’s 89 hit by pitches occurred over the course of 2,055 games and 8,674 plate appearances. France led the league in hit by pitches in 2021 and 2023.
Seattle scored its first run on a bases-loaded walk by Mitch Garver.
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