Made for these moments, J-Rod lifts Mariners to late-inning win

SEATTLE -- Julio Rodríguez believes he’s wired to be front-and-center for baseball’s biggest moments, despite admitted shortcomings in an up-and-down season that’s run akin to the rest of the Mariners’ offense.

That’s what made his dramatic, three-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning on Friday night all the more rewarding.

In a 1-1 count with two outs, Rodríguez sat all over a middle-in curveball from reliever David Robertson and unleashed a windmill hack that sent the pitch 419 feet into the second deck at T-Mobile Park, lifting the Mariners to a 5-4 victory over the Rangers.

After the ball left his bat at a whopping 111.7 mph, Rodríguez paced toward first base, then thrust his barrel sky high, pointing to the home dugout before beginning his trot -- all as the Mariners faithful chanted his name in unison.

“Ju-li-o!” they roared on repeat.

“That's every player's dream,” said Rodríguez, who tied a season high with four hits. “I feel like if you go across leagues and sports and everywhere, as a player, you want to be in the batter's box in that moment. It doesn't matter what happens. Like, you feel like you want those moments.”

Badly needing a victory to keep its postseason hopes alive, Seattle (75-73) remained 4 1/2 games back in the American League West after Houston won in Anaheim and 3 1/2 games back of the final AL Wild Card spot.

Rodríguez steadfastly preached that they still have a run in them to continue their season into October. Even after the victory, their playoff odds from FanGraphs are at 5.9%.

“If you don't believe, why are you even here?” Rodríguez said. “That's kind of our mentality. I feel like we've got to believe in ourselves, and we believe in ourselves.”

Rodríguez is no stranger to high-stake situations, now with eight game-tying or go-ahead homers in the seventh inning or later since his rookie season (2022). But there have also been plenty of situations where he came up short -- notably last month in Pittsburgh, where he was as angry at himself as ever when striking out with the bases loaded to end the game.

Yet, within a season that he’ll almost certainly look back on as one where his potential wasn’t fully realized -- but also one that is, individually, finishing on an upward trajectory -- the even-keeled Rodríguez has mostly taken a grounded approach to his reflection.

“You either focus on the pain or focus on the lesson,” Rodríguez said. “I feel like you have two choices there. And I feel like, for me, I know, let's say this year, I have a lot of lessons. And I feel those are the things I've been trying to focus on the most. And you learn the most from failures. You learn the most from missing a shot, from striking out in a big situation.”

What has he learned about all of these lessons?

“Just so much about baseball, about myself, about how I do things, how I want to improve all the areas of myself, and just kind of keep on growing,” Rodríguez said. “I feel like I even forget to myself that I'm 23 years old, and I feel like I’ve got to keep reminding myself -- keeping my eyes open, keeping my ears open, and just kind of paying attention and soaking it all in.”

Rodríguez's .382 slugging percentage is down from his .509 mark as a rookie and .485 last year, when he became the 44th player in AL/NL history to achieve a 30-30 season. But he’s hitting .344/.403/.578 (.981 OPS) over his past 15 games.

And the ball scorched off his bat on Friday as much as it has all year -- with a 112.1 mph single and 112.2 mph single off Jacob deGrom early, then a 102.5 mph double that helped spark Seattle’s two-run rally in the seventh after the club was scoreless to that point.

As nights like Friday showed, when Rodríguez seizes the big moment, Seattle can soar.

“I'm a very even-keeled person,” Rodríguez said. “I'm doing what I love. I've been playing baseball since I was a kid, and just sometimes, there is more emotion to it than other days.”