J-Rod hits Texas-sized first HR of '24 as Mariners blank Rangers

ARLINGTON -- They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and that certainly applied to Julio Rodríguez's first homer of 2024.

With one on and one out in the third inning Tuesday night, Rodríguez belted a 1-0 sinker off Dane Dunning a whopping 435 feet, halfway up the second deck beyond left-center field at Globe Life Field. It left his bat at 110.5 mph, making it the Mariners’ hardest-hit and longest homer of the season.

It also put Seattle ahead, 4-0, the scoreline the Mariners ultimately won by in their series opener in Arlington, where the club has lost each of its past eight games dating back to August of 2022. That included an 0-6 showing in 2023, when the Mariners finished just two games behind the eventual World Series champion Rangers in the American League West and Wild Card standings.

“Being able to get that good pitch and being able to drive it like how I know I can, it definitely felt really good,” Rodríguez said. “There've been a lot of mistakes that I've been just on them, but just fouling it off. But on that one, I definitely did not miss it.”

Rodríguez appeared to be trending in the right direction before Tuesday’s big blast, entering the evening on a six-game hit streak, with at least two hits in each of his previous five games. In that stretch, he went 13-for-28, raising his batting average from .186 to .276 and his OPS from .441 to .625.

But he hadn’t homered in a regular-season game since Sept. 28 -- also against the Rangers but in Seattle. And he let out his emotions of getting off the schneid in the visiting dugout by hoisting -- then hugging -- the Mariners’ celebratory trident.

“It was ‘long time, no see’ to my good friend,” he said.

This isn’t the first slow start for Rodríguez, but it feels more pronounced than each of his previous two seasons. The 23 games it took for him to hit his first homer is the longest of his career, edging the 21 it took him during his rookie season in ‘22. That year, he also broke out in a big way, with a 450-foot blast in Miami that remains the second-longest of his career.

“A few little adjustments here and there, just kind of trending in the right direction and like finding the right things,” Rodríguez said. “And I felt more like myself today.”

His homer was the Mariners’ second of the night, after Cal Raleigh crushed a two-run shot in the first, the catcher’s fourth in his past five games, extending his team-lead to six on the season. After going 5-for-25 with zero extra-base hits to start the year, he’s 14-for-45 since, good for a .711 slugging percentage and 1.107 OPS.

Rodríguez and Raleigh had huge highlights, but they tied into Seattle’s philosophical shift into preparation -- but more so, execution -- after struggling for any offensive traction over the season’s first two weeks. The Mariners advanced to 10-3 when plating at least four and 10-2 when scoring first.

Tuesday also marked the Mariners’ fifth time in their past seven games they’ve chased the opposing starter before the end of the fifth inning; Dunning became the latest victim after exiting after 4 1/3 frames. In this stretch, opposing starters have a 6.75 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 1.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio against the Mariners, who've hit them to the tune of a .403 on-base percentage and .929 OPS.

“Minding our manners at the plate,” Mariners offensive coordinator Brant Brown said of Seattle’s more polished approach.

For this blueprint to work, pitching is just as paramount, and Logan Gilbert was easily the game’s MVP after twirling 6 2/3 shutout innings against a lineup that’s led the AL in scoring since the start of last season. He issued two walks -- already a season high -- in the first inning and finished with four, but surrendered just two hits and recorded six strikeouts.

Gilbert helped the Mariners’ rotation set a franchise record with its 11th straight start of at least five innings with two earned runs allowed or fewer, surpassing a stretch from Sept. 4-14, 2003. In the current run, Seattle’s starters are a combined 7-2 with an MLB-best 1.30 ERA, after starting the year 3-7 with a 6.39 ERA in the first 12 games.

The Mariners believe they’re better equipped to play the Rangers after being overpowered by their division rivals last season -- and Tuesday was a strong start.