Rodríguez converted one of the better home run streaks you’ll see in the Mariners’ 6-4 10-inning loss to the Orioles on Saturday afternoon by vaulting over the center field wall at Oriole Park at Camden Yards to rob Ryan O. ” Hear.
With Seattle trailing 4-3 in the seventh inning, O’Hearn hit a hanging slider from Ty Adcock for a game-winning two-run home run. But Rodríguez was chasing the ball the whole time, perfectly directing his leap onto the wall to snatch it out of the air over the Orioles’ bullpen.
“I knew I had it all along, I just didn’t think it would come to this,” Rodriguez said. “I was definitely looking forward to that.”
Rodríguez was understandably excited after the game, while O’Hearn put both hands on his helmet in disbelief. Before the next half-inning, Rodríguez celebrated the joy of a young fan by handing the ball from play from just outside the Mariners dugout to the boy wearing a Rodríguez jersey.
“He had a big sign with boxes on it, and the last box that needed checking was ‘Meet me,'” Rodríguez said. “I went over and said hello to him and talked to him a little between innings and after I caught the catch I said, ‘Take the souvenir.’ I knew he would appreciate that.”
Robbing a home run has been on Rodríguez’s wish list since he entered the league last season; Surprisingly, his nearly unanimously AL Rookie of the Year Award-winning 2022 season included no such catch, despite Rodríguez being ranked among baseball’s top defensive midfielders. He came on Saturday as the third among MLB midfielders in Outs Above Average, also in 2023, although his offensive performance has declined due to seizures and starts at the plate.
In that sense, the great grab was part of an excellent all-around day from Rodríguez, who also hit his 13th home run of the season upstairs in the sixth and stole his 17th base in a three-hit game. But despite those contributions and two homers from Mike Ford, including a game-winning two-out smash against Orioles closer Felix Bautista in the ninth round, the Mariners ultimately fell a game below .500 (37-38). Ford became the first Seattle player to hit a three-digit home run in the pitch-tracking era since 2008, before the club finally lost to Ryan McKenna’s two-run walk-off home run in the tenth run.
Rodríguez is hitting .243/.305/.424 — significantly less than the .272/.333/.449 line he hit in 75 games as a rookie in 2022. But he’s still on track with 28 homers and 36 steals. and his groundbreaking all-around skills remain clearly in evidence.
“Julio had a really good game today,” said manager Scott Servais. “Although we scored a lot of runs last night, he was here this morning and worked on a few things with our hitting coaches. He was busy with it most of the day and then he got a fantastic catch. This stadium has a tendency to get some of those catches and he made a good one.”