J-Rod homers in 3rd straight as Mariners stay hot

SEATTLE -- There’s “locked in,” and then there’s the state of being that Julio Rodríguez is in right now.

With each passing day, the Mariners' star center fielder is seemingly achieving a new major milestone, but in his eyes, it’s all taking a back seat to Seattle’s team-wide efforts as the hottest offense in the American League.

Rodríguez’s latest feat during a 7-0 win over Oakland on Monday night was a career first, when he homered in his third straight game and finished a triple shy of what would’ve been the fifth cycle in franchise history, the most recent via Adrián Beltré on Sept. 1, 2008.

The victory was the Mariners’ 20th in August, tying the franchise record achieved four times before, in June 1997 and thrice in their historic 116-win season in 2001 (April, May, and August). They’ll have two chances to set a new highmark on Tuesday and Wednesday against an A’s team that they’re undefeated against in eight games this season.

“I'm just happy that I'm able to help this team win, help this stretch that we've got going on and just kind of keep this winning streak going,” Rodríguez said. “That's honestly everything that matters to me.”

Seattle also held on to sole possession of first place in the AL West after Texas and Houston also won on Monday to each remain one game back, tied for second. Those clubs also hold the final two AL Wild Card spots, setting up for a wild finish over the final month.

But back to the star of the night, who put together the performance in front of a ticketed 37,434 -- the largest Monday crowd at T-Mobile Park since April 10, 2017, which was Seattle’s home opener that season.

Rodríguez’s biggest moment came in a 1-1 count against lefty Kyle Muller in the fourth, when he crushed a hanging slider on the outer half and sent it soaring 420 feet and into the T-Mobile ‘Pen beyond the deepest part of the park in left-center. It was his 24th homer of the year, which -- coupled with his 35 stolen bases -- has a 30-30 season well within reach with 31 games to play.

It’s an achievement that’s only been reached once in franchise history, in 1998 by Alex Rodríguez, whom J-Rod on Saturday passed as the fastest in club history to 50 career homers. A-Rod finished that year going 40-40 (42 homers, 46 stolen bases).

Yet Julio Rodríguez’s flashiest plays might have been the pair of infield singles he legged out.

With a six-run lead in the sixth, he chopped a 74.8 mph dribbler off the bat to third baseman Jordan Diaz then beat the throw by racing to the bag in 4.10 seconds -- his fastest home-to-first time of the year -- and dialing up his sprint speed to 31.1 feet-per-second, well above the MLB average of 27. Then in the eighth, he sent a 71.7 mph dribbler past Diaz, whose only option was a barehanded play, which he missed. Rodríguez raced to first in 4.23 seconds with a 30.9 sprint speed.

“We play 27 outs, regardless of the game, regardless of what it is,” Rodríguez said. “There are some plays that you're definitely not going to do, like stealing a base when you're up like that and things like that, but I feel like running a ground ball, I feel like that's something that we should be able to do.”

Rodríguez also extended his hit streak to 13 games dating back to Aug. 13, over which he’s 32-for-62 with 13 runs scored, six doubles, five homers, 21 RBIs, four walks and eight stolen bases, good for a slash line of .516/.552/.855 (1.407 OPS). And with four hits on Monday, Rodríguez brought his season total to 153, passing Toronto’s Bo Bichette for the AL lead. Rodríguez also has 28 hits in 10 games, the most for any player since Kenny Lofton in 1997.

“It feels pretty good, but I was talking to [Mariners great] Ichiro [Suzuki], and he got like 56 [hits] in one month,” Rodriguez said, laughing.

Moreover, if it weren’t for the unprecedented season that Shohei Ohtani is having for the Angels -- even with his recent tear in his UCL that will prevent him from pitching again in 2023 -- this run from Rodríguez might be pushing him into consideration for the AL MVP Award. At this rate, he’ll certainly earn votes near the top.

Most wins above replacement in AL, per FanGraphs (entering Monday):

Shohei Ohtani, LAA: 8.8
Julio Rodríguez, SEA: 5.1
Corey Seager, TEX: 5.1
Luis Robert Jr., CWS: 4.9
Bobby Witt Jr., KC: 4.9