Friday afternoon, Julio Rodríguez and the Seattle Mariners erased an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Cleveland Guardians (SEA 5, CLE 3) and spoil the home opener at Progressive Field. JP Crawford had two RBI doubles and Rodríguez put Seattle up for good with a two-run home run in the sixth inning. It was his second homer of the young season.
Here is Julio's game-winning blast off right-hander Nick Sandlin:
"He covers the breaking ball, the heater, it doesn't really matter," Mariners manager Scott Servais told the Seattle Times about Rodríguez after the game. "He's just got that kind of talent when he barrels it up. The ball jumps off the bat."
Friday's home run was the 30th of Rodríguez's career. He reached the 30-homer milestone in only 140 career games, the fastest of any player in Mariners history. The previous record was 156 games by Jim Presley from 1984-85. Here are the fastest to 30 career home runs in Mariners franchise history:
Julio Rodríguez: 140 gamesJim Pressley: 156 gamesAlex Rodriguez: 162 gamesDaniel Vogelbach: 162 gamesAlvin Davis: 180 gamesHall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 30th home run in his 225th career game, for those keeping score at home. Rodríguez had some growing pains early last season, hitting only .188/.257/.250 in his first 18 MLB games and not going deep until his 10th game in the show. He soon got settled in and has been one of the game's best players since.
The quickest to 30 career home runs in MLB history is almost hard to believe: Rudy York got there in just 79 games with the 1934-37 Detroit Tigers. Mark McGwire hit his 30th career homer in his 84th game, and a few years ago Cody Bellinger hit his 30th career homer in his 87th game.
Rodríguez, 22, slashed .284/.385/.509 with 28 home runs and 28 steals en route to being named the AL Rookie of the Year in 2022. This is the first year of the 12-year, $209.3 million extension he signed last August. The deal can max out at 17 years and $469.3 million through escalators and options.
