J-Rod's latest HR puts him in an ultra-rare 30-30 club
SEATTLE -- The Mariners have so much to look forward to with their star center fielder, Julio Rodríguez. But for now, they¡¯ll occasionally sit in awe of what he¡¯s doing in the present.
Take Monday night, for example.
Rodr¨ªguez kept the Mariners alive in dramatic fashion in Seattle¡¯s otherwise-disappointing 8-5 loss to the Angels with a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Just like that, the man with the jersey No. 44 became the 44th player in Major League history to record a 30-30 season -- 30 homers and 30 stolen bases.
- Games remaining: vs. LAA (2), vs. LAD (3), at OAK (3), at TEX (3), vs. HOU (3), vs. TEX (4)
- Standings update: The Mariners (79-65) are 2 1/2 games behind the Astros (82-63) for the AL West lead. The Mariners are a half-game out of the third AL Wild Card spot, and the Rangers (79-64) hold the head-to-head tiebreaker in the season series.
And by hitting his ninth home run in his past 14 games, Rodr¨ªguez became the fourth player to have a 30-30 season at age 22 or younger, joining Ronald Acu?a Jr. (2019), Mike Trout (2012) and Alex Rodriguez (1998).
¡°It's incredible,¡± starter Logan Gilbert said of Rodr¨ªguez, who declined to speak with reporters after the game.?
¡°When he goes, the whole team goes. He¡¯s so important to what we do here and especially at this time of the year, so it's fun having a front-row seat, just being a fan and seeing what he's doing. Making history every year, every day, it seems.
¡°And especially at that point in the game, when you know we needed it and definitely had a chance to win after that ¡ but unfortunately it just got away.¡±
Still, the Mariners lost the game when the Angels erupted for a three-run rally in the top of the 11th inning.?
Randal Grichuk singled in a run, Jordyn Adams got another home on an error by Seattle third baseman Eugenio Su¨¢rez and Nolan Schanuel drove in a third to seal the Mariners¡¯ fate.
¡°A lot of plays you can look back at in this game,¡± Mariners manager Scott Servais said. ¡°¡®If this would have gone that way,¡¯ or ¡®I would have done this a little bit differently or better,¡¯ and we probably win the game. That's what happens in these games. And it's going to continue to happen over the next two and a half weeks.?
¡°But one thing about this team, and I've said it often, is it's very resilient. We don¡¯t quit.¡±
The Mariners fell to 79-65 and a half-game behind Texas for the third Wild Card spot. They also fell back into third place in the American League West behind the Rangers. They have lost four consecutive games for the first time since late April.
Seattle came out swinging in the bottom of the first inning, looking like the opposite of a team that had to fly in from the Tampa Bay area overnight toward the end of a stretch of 13 games in 13 days.
J.P. Crawford led off with a single off Angels starter Reid Detmers, and Rodr¨ªguez singled him to third. After a Teoscar Hern¨¢ndez sacrifice fly made it 1-0, Cal Raleigh¡¯s home run into the Angels' bullpen in left field made it 3-0. The blast was Raleigh¡¯s 28th of the year, a career high for the Seattle catcher.
The Mariners couldn¡¯t do much against Detmers after that, however. The left-hander retired the next 11 Seattle hitters before Jarred Kelenic, appearing in his first game since breaking his foot on July 19, singled to lead off the fifth, and Detmers did not allow another run through seven innings.
That allowed the Angels, most notably catcher Logan O¡¯Hoppe, to tie the game. O¡¯Hoppe hit a two-run homer off Gilbert in the top of the second inning and added a game-tying solo blast in the fourth.
Otherwise, Gilbert was effective and efficient. He departed after the seventh, having given up three runs on six hits while striking out five and walking one. He threw 93 pitches, 70 of which were strikes.
The ninth inning was filled with bases-loaded drama for both teams. The Angels put runners on first, second and third with one out before Mariners closer Andr¨¦s Mu?oz wiggled out of the jam. In the bottom of the ninth, the Mariners got singles from Raleigh, Su¨¢rez and Ty France to load the bases with nobody out before Angels reliever Aaron Loup got the next three outs to extend the game.
In the 10th, Brandon Drury came up big for the Angels, hitting a two-out, two-run homer to left to give his team a 5-3 lead.
Rodr¨ªguez answered with his homer off Jos¨¦ Marte, which he golfed out of the park on a low pitch mere inches from the dirt, but the Angels got the job done against Mariners relievers Trent Thornton and Gabe Speier.
¡°Tough loss, no question about it,¡± Servais said. ¡°You¡¯ve got to wash it. We¡¯ve got to wipe it clean.¡±