J-Rod hits milestone at record speed in Mariners' 7-HR rout

SEATTLE -- By the time Julio Rodríguez reached another Mariners milestone by becoming the fastest player in franchise history to 50 career homers on Saturday afternoon, he was late to the party.

The Mariners had already crushed three big blasts as part of a seven-run third inning, so when Rodríguez went deep for a 410-foot, two-run shot in the fifth, Seattle was already well on its way to a 15-2 victory against the Royals at T-Mobile Park.

J-Rod reached the half-century mark in just his 256th career game, passing Alex Rodríguez (269 games) for the quickest in franchise history. Couple his 35 stolen bases this year with his 25 in the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year Award season, and he joined Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. (2018-19) as the only players in AL/NL history to go 50-50 in their first two seasons.

“Honestly, that's not my main focus,” Rodríguez said. “I'm just happy that I was able to contribute to the team and I was able to hit all those homers and help the team to win throughout that time. Let's keep on going, though.”

In doing so, Rodríguez extended his hit streak to 11 games to continue what’s become a strong bid for AL Player of the Month for August. But he was hardly the lone contributor on an afternoon in which Seattle cleared the fence seven times -- tying the franchise record that it’s reached four times and not since 2002, and setting a new record for the home team in this ballpark.

Playing a rare Saturday matinee due to the Drake and Ed Sheeran concerts in town, the Mariners had to wait for Saturday night’s results from the Rangers to see if they’d reign alone atop the American League West. With Texas' 6-2 win over Minnesota, the Mariners remain tied for first place. On Friday, they'd climbed into a tie for first place this late in the season for the first time since 2003. They are now 18-5 in August with four games to play, needing just three wins to set the franchise record for most wins in a month.

Rodríguez said earlier this month that he didn’t believe the Mariners were “hot.” What about now?

“Still, we're not hot,” Rodríguez said. “I'm going to keep saying it: We're not hot. We're just playing the ball that I know we're capable of.”

All but two of the Mariners’ runs were scored via the long ball, an RBI forceout by Teoscar Hernández in the fourth inning and an RBI single by J.P. Crawford in the fifth.

The Mariners’ offensive onslaught was so prolonged that Logan Gilbert began stretching and conducting breathing exercises in the home dugout to stay fresh, patiently waiting for his turn to go back out.

A breakdown of the barrage:

1. Josh Rojas sparked the power surge with a home run to lead off the third, an at-bat he began by showing bunt.

2. Hernández followed with his first grand slam of the year and the Mariners’ fourth.

3. Mike Ford then tacked on a two-run blast to cap the seven-spot.

4. Rodríguez added his milestone marker.

5. Cal Raleigh crushed a solo shot in the sixth, his 25th of the year that extended his MLB high among catchers.

6. Cade Marlowe added a pinch-hit, two-run blast in the seventh.

7. And Hernández crushed another off position-player pitcher Matt Duffy in the eighth.

The power production gave Gilbert plenty of breathing room to pitch seven innings of one-run ball and put a bow on Seattle’s fourth straight series win and 10th among their past 11.

“It's a good problem to have when we're scoring that many runs that I'm trying to stay active and moving around and stuff,” Gilbert said. “But I mean, the team right now, it's crazy what we're doing and what the offense is doing in particular.”

Gilbert has been a linchpin in Seattle’s 2023 turnaround, as the club is now 9-1 in his starts dating back to a shutout in San Francisco on the Fourth of July. But it’s been the offense’s remarkable rise that’s positioned the club to contend for the division title.

Seattle only trails juggernaut Atlanta -- the leading World Series favorite -- in most offensive categories this month.

Mariners’ offense since Trade Deadline (MLB ranks)

BA: .292 (2nd)
OBP: .370 (2nd)
SLG: .502 (3rd)
OPS: .878 (2nd)
HR: 41 (3rd)
XBH: 91 (3rd)

Generating the production customary from primary run producers Rodríguez, Hernández, Raleigh and Eugenio Suárez in the second half has been a huge component -- but just as much have been the additions of Rojas and Dominic Canzone in the Trade Deadline deal that sent Paul Sewald to Arizona.

After hitting zero homers in 59 games with the D-backs, Rojas now has three in 17 games with the Mariners, over which he’s slashed .300/.333/.483 and been a huge boon to the bottom of the order. Seattle’s Nos. 7-9 hitters have a .815 OPS since the Deadline, compared to .696 prior.

“It's a lot easier hitting when you know the lineup is on fire,” Rojas said. “A lot less pressure just going out there trying to get it to the next guy and seeing what they can do. And that's exactly what this lineup has been doing lately.”

Gilbert and Seattle’s pitching staff have been among MLB’s best all year. Now, the Mariners’ bats are matching that production, leading to grander questions of what this team can continue to achieve as the stakes approach the season’s highest.