X-rays negative after Julio Rodríguez hit by line drive

Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez exited Saturday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels after being struck in the ankle by a hard line drive off the bat of teammate Randy Arozarena.

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X-rays came back negative and Rodríguez was optimistic after the game that he could be in the lineup for the Mariners’ series finale in Anaheim on Sunday afternoon.

“I feel decent,” Rodríguez said. “We took some X-rays and everything looked good, so that’s the biggest and most important thing. So yeah, I feel fine. I did a lot of things here in the training room and I should be able to feel better tomorrow.”

Rodríguez was attempting to steal third base in the third inning when Arozarena sent a scorching 98.1 mph one-hopper toward the hole between shortstop and third base. Rodríguez tried to get out of the way, but the ball hit him on the upper portion of his right ankle.

Rodríguez, in obvious pain, began limping around before lying down near the Angels’ third-base dugout. He was tended to there by Mariners trainers for several minutes before limping off the field with assistance.

Rodríguez said the his ankle reacted well to the treatment and that the swelling subsided.

“Obviously at the beginning, it was very painful,” Rodríguez said. “I couldn’t really feel my foot a whole lot or move it a whole lot. … But after we started treating it, everything started reacting better right away.”

Leody Taveras came off the bench in the bottom of the third inning to replace Rodríguez in center field.

Three pitches after Taveras entered the game, he misjudged a shallow fly ball from Zach Neto. The ball kicked off Taveras’ leg, which allowed Neto to take second base for a leadoff double. Later in the inning, Taveras was unable to make a leaping catch at the wall on a game-tying RBI double by Chris Taylor.

Rodríguez is batting .254 with 10 home runs, three triples, six doubles, 11 stolen bases and a .742 OPS in 62 games this season. He’s hitting .345 over his past eight games, including a pair of two-hit games against the Angels on Friday and Saturday. He also made a spectacular home-run robbery on Friday night.

The Mariners (32-31) have lost five straight games and 10 of their last 13. They will look to avoid being swept for a second straight series when the face the Angels at 1:07 p.m. on Sunday.

“We’ll have to look at it tomorrow and reassess,” Wilson said of Rodríguez’s status. “… It’s day to day right now and we’ll see what it is tomorrow.”

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