Julio Rodriguez is getting hot at the right time for the Seattle Mariners.
The second-year star has homered three times in the last two games and four times in the past five as the Mariners open a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night in Phoenix.
Seattle stands 4 1/2 games behind in the chase for the American League’s third and final wild-card berth but is showing signs of making a run by winning five of its past seven games.
The stretch includes back-to-back wins over the Minnesota Twins in which the Mariners scored 17 runs and socked six homers. Rodriguez hit two in Tuesday’s game, and Dylan Moore went deep twice on Wednesday.
Rodriguez’s homer on Wednesday — his 17th of the season — came on an 0-2 pitch and traveled 422 feet.
“You’ve got time to do all that, to make the right adjustments, to take the pitches that you don’t want to swing at,” Rodriguez said of his approach. “So I feel like everything is on the timing. If you want to hit the ball out front, you’ve got to be ready for it. If you want to recognize something earlier, you’ve got to be ready for it, too.
“So I feel like all those things are working pretty well.”
Rodriguez leads the Mariners in homers and has a chance to reach last season’s rookie count of 28.
Seattle looks to keep the power bats potent against the Diamondbacks, who are 3-9 since the All-Star break and have lost 14 of their last 19 games.
Arizona just lost two of three to the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, with the losses coming by scores of 10-6 and 11-7. The Diamondbacks have allowed seven or more runs in eight games since the All-Star break.
Arizona’s shaky bullpen has been a problem, but general manager Mike Hazen said the team needs help in all areas as Tuesday’s trade deadline nears.
“It’s been the roughest stretch of the season so far,” Hazen told reporters. “But look, we’re still standing where we’re standing, and year-over-year, we’re pretty happy with where we’re standing. We think we have a good team. We have a good team that plays hard and there’s talent in the lineup, there’s talent in the bullpen and there’s talent in the rotation. So we’re out there looking to find ways to improve.”
All-Star Corbin Carroll, fellow outfielder Jake McCarthy and first baseman Christian Walker each had three hits in Wednesday’s four-run loss. Emmanuel Rivera and Walker homered for Arizona, which is a half-game behind the final National League wild-card spot.
Diamondbacks left-hander Tommy Henry (5-3, 4.01 ERA) will start on Friday. He has lost his past two outings, lasting just 4 1/3 innings in each. He gave up three runs and seven hits against the Blue Jays in Toronto on July 16 and allowed four runs (three earned) and four hits against the host Cincinnati Reds last Friday.
Henry has a 4-2 mark in eight road starts this season, but his ERA is a hefty 5.05.
Henry, 25, has never faced the Mariners.
Right-hander Logan Gilbert (8-5, 3.88) has won his past three decisions for Seattle.
Gilbert, 26, gave up just three runs in 21 innings during his hot streak, which began with a five-hit shutout against the host San Francisco Giants on July 4.
The superb stretch ended against Toronto on Saturday, when he allowed five runs and eight hits — including three homers — in five innings during a no-decision. The Mariners went on to win the game 9-8.
Gilbert has never pitched against Arizona. He faced Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (1-for-6) and Rivera (0-for-2) when those players were on AL teams.
–Field Level Media