Fastball

Julio Rodriguez Finally Hit Another Home Run For Seattle Mariners!

The Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics on Sunday afternoon, 8-4, with Julio Rodriguez finally hitting his second home run of the season.
Brady Farkas|
May 12, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44)
May 12, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44) | Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

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Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics on Sunday afternoon, 8-4, to move to 22-19 on the season. With the win, Seattle took the series and took sole possession of first place of the American League West, as they are 0.5 games ahead of the Texas Rangers.

The win was absolutely huge for the Mariners, as all wins are, but perhaps just as huge was the fact that Mariners star Julio Rodriguez finally looked right at the plate.

The two-time All-Star and centerpiece of the M's lineup went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a home run, two runs scored and two RBI. The home run was just the second of the year for Rodriguez, who has been in a noticeable power drought this season.

Per Gary Hill Jr. of the Mariners radio network:

Julio Rodríguez exit velocity the last two games:

101.7
109
100.2
101.3
103.1
110.1

Rodriguez hitting the ball so hard is a welcome sign, as is him simply hitting the ball in the air. He's hit the ball on the ground in more than 42 percent of his plate appearances that have been put in play and has struck out in 28.7 percent of his plate appearances.

He's still hitting just .255 with the two homers and 13 RBI but the hope is that as the weather warms up, Rodriguez warms up too. The M's lineup is certainly a different animal with him performing at an All-Star level.

Seattle will be back in action on Monday to take on the Kansas City Royals at T-Mobile Park. First pitch is set for 9:40 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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