Jorge Polanco hits 1st right-handed homer of season

For most of the season, an oblique issue had limited Seattle Mariners switch-hitter Jorge Polanco to batting solely from the left side of the plate.

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But recently, Polanco has started hitting from both sides again. And on Friday night, the veteran infielder did some big-time damage from the right batter’s box.

Polanco hit his first right-handed home run of the season and also doubled from the right side during the Mariners’ 7-2 series-opening win over the Cleveland Guardians.

Polanco’s double came in the seventh inning, when he hit a 107.8 mph liner into left field off lefty reliever Tim Herrin to help kickstart a four-run frame.

One inning later, Polanco turned on a 2-2 cutter from lefty reliever Kolby Allard and pulled a solo shot over the left-field wall. It was his 11th homer of the season, with each of his first 10 coming from the left side.

It was also Polanco’s first homer since May 12.

Polanco got off to a scorching start over the first month of the season, batting .395 with nine homers, five doubles and a 1.250 OPS over his first 24 games. He then went ice-cold after that, hitting just .115 over his next 24 games. But he’s since bounced back with an eight-game hitting streak, while batting .324 over that span.

The Mariners finished with 16 hits on Friday night, which was their second-highest total of the season.

Polanco was one of seven Mariners who finished with multiple hits, along with J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena, Rowdy Tellez, Dominic Canzone and Ben Williamson. The last time Seattle had at least seven players with multiple hits in the same game was in May 2018.

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