Mariners’ Tellez homers off pitcher he was traded for… again

There’s just something about the Toronto Blue Jays that brings out the best in Seattle Mariners slugger Rowdy Tellez.

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Tellez went deep against his former team yet again, hitting a solo shot over the left-center-field fence to give Seattle a 1-0 lead over the Blue Jays in the second inning of Saturday night’s game at T-Mobile Park.

It was Tellez’s sixth homer of the season – including his fourth in 12 at-bats against the Blue Jays this year. He homered in all three games of the Mariners’ series in Toronto last month, including a 12th-inning grand slam in an 8-4 win on April 19.

Tellez’s second-inning blast on Saturday was also his second of the season off Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis.

That’s notable because Tellez and Francis were on opposite sides of a July 2021 trade. In that deal, Toronto sent Tellez to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Francis and right-hander Trevor Richards. Up until that point, Tellez had spent his entire career in the Blue Jays’ organization since Toronto drafted him in 2013.

Tellez, a 30-year-old left-handed-hitting first baseman, signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in February and earned an opening-day roster spot after a strong spring. He’s struggled for most of the season, hitting just .210. But against the Blue Jays, he continues to do serious damage.

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