Julio Rodriguez hit a two-run homer in the Seattle Mariners’ six-run fourth inning on Wednesday. The team managed to defeat the Baltimore Orioles by 9-3, marking their seventh win in nine games.
The Mariners took two home runs out of the three from Baltimore and continued their baseball good streak after a 5-1 road trip last week. The Mariners’ manager Scott Servais found it impressive.
“That’s a long way to home run in this ballpark,” Servais said. “You don’t see it too often.”
The highlight of the day was Rodriguez, who shot a ball with a speed that was estimated at 431 feet and landed in the first row of the second deck in left-center field. This gave plenty of offense for Chris Flexen (4-8), the Mariners’ starter. Rodriguez implied that was unplanned on his part.
“I feel pretty good about the year that I’m having. I feel pretty good and the way that I’m helping the team,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t want to say I didn’t have high expectations, but I just kind of let everything flow.”
The Mariners’ teamwork
Rodriguez wasn’t the only one who gave the team a boost in the offense. The bottom of the lineup which consisted of Abraham Toro, Adam Frazier, and Sam Haggerty scored a combo of seven hits and six runs. Each of them scored twice.
Toro doubled while Frazier reached on an error courtesy of the third baseman Jonathan Arauz. Haggerty then put a bunt down the third-base line that Arauz threw away, which allowed the first run to score and the runners to advance to second and third.
Meanwhile, Flexen welcomed the change in the form of getting nine runs, especially considering in this season, he had zero or one run of support while on the mound in nine of his 14 starts.
After receiving the big lead, Flexen bolted through six innings, which allowed three runs on seven hits. On top of that, Trey Mancini scored a two-run double with Ryan Mountcastle having an RBI double. As a result, the team’s starters have allowed three earned runs or less in 26 out of the past 27 outings.
The Mariners started the day with 16 on the season. In scoring position, Seattle was also 5 for 13 with the runners. This performance certainly made Servais excited throughout the entire match.
“I think anybody who watches us on a daily basis understands the situational heating and getting and getting guys in from third, and getting that big hit with runners in scoring position has been a struggle for us,” he said. “But we did a lot of really going things today.”
The Orioles’ valiant efforts
For the first time in his career, Austin Voth (0-1) played against the Mariners, which happens to be the team of his hometown. The right-hand starter lasted just about three innings pitching. Voth earned four hits, but got only one run in his third start this season with the Orioles, ending the scoreless tie with the Mariners.
Meanwhile the Orioles’ reliever Nick Vespi appeared to demonstrate quite a strong play before being relieved by Bryan Baker. The Orioles manager Brandon Hyde commended him for his effort playing against the Mariners.
“Nick’s been great for us. He’s really thrown the ball well,” he said. “He just left some balls elevated a little bit.”
Regardless, Vespi had allowed only one earned run in his first five big league appearances. He gave up six runs in the fourth and recorded just one out.