Julio launches a mammoth home run against Yankees

Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez showed another sign that he may find his groove before his typical summer surge.

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Rodríguez got a hold of a hanging sweeper from New York Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt and crushed a mammoth 433-foot solo home run with an exit velocity of 110.4 mph in the first inning Monday night’s series opener at T-Mobile Park.

The home run was Rodríguez’s seventh of the season and third in 10 games this month. The 40 games it took the center fielder to reach seven homers in the second-fastest mark of his career (38 games in 2023). He didn’t hit his seventh home run until his 73rd game last season. It was also the first extra-base hit for a right-hander off Schmidt this season.

Rodríguez is now tied with Dylan Moore for third on the team in home runs.

Rodríguez entered Monday hitting just .228 with a .711 OPS, but he’s been heating up in recent weeks. In 19 games since April 19 before Monday’s game, Rodríguez hit .275 with a .758 OPS, three doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs and 12 runs scored. He also had multiple hits in four of his first seven games this month.

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