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Rodriguez, Crawford light up Fourth of July for Mariners in 7-3 win over Orioles

Home run and double for Julio, tie-breaking 3-run double for J.P.

By TIM BOOTH, AP Sports Writer
Published: July 4, 2024, 4:28pm
7 Photos
Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodríguez holds a trident in the dugout after his solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Seattle.
Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodríguez holds a trident in the dugout after his solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Photo Gallery

SEATTLE — Julio Rodríguez homered for the first time since June 15 and doubled, J.P. Crawford lined a tiebreaking three-run double, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3 on Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep.

“It definitely felt great. Sometimes you got to go through tough stretches to wake up,” Rodríguez said.

Seattle’s slumping offense broke out in a big way and it was the Mariners’ best player leading the charge. Mired in a slump at the plate, Rodríguez hit an 0-2 pitch from Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes an estimated 428 feet to center field in the fifth inning for his eighth homer to pull Seattle to 2-1.

Two innings later, Rodríguez keyed Seattle’s five-run seventh inning with a line drive double off Baltimore reliever Bryan Baker. The Mariners eventually loaded the bases against Baker (1-1) and with two outs and Crawford cleared them after Keegan Akin fell behind in the count.

Crawford is hitting .636 with 37 RBI with the bases loaded over the past two seasons.

“In my opinion, what J.P. does is he puts the pressure on the guy on the mound, he doesn’t put that on himself. And you can see that,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He has a great idea of the strike zone so he’s not going to chase in those situations too often and when he lets the game come to him that’s when it really works for him.”

Mitch Garver capped Seattle’s offensive burst with a two-run homer, his 11th of the season.

“Really poorly pitched seventh there,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said.

Rodríguez’s slump coincided with Seattle’s slide that has seen the Mariners’ 10-game lead in the AL west dwindle to just two. In the previous 14 games, Rodríguez had zero RBI and zero extra-base hits.

Rodríguez appeared to jam his right thumb making a catch in center field in the sixth inning while fighting the sun but remained in the game.

“After I moved it around a little bit, it went away,” Rodríguez said.

Seattle starter Bryce Miller managed to keep Baltimore’s offense in check, apart from All-Star Gunnar Henderson. Henderson doubled to open the game – although he was thrown out trying to advance to third – and hit a two-run shot for his 27th homer of the season.

Miller worked into the sixth, allowing only two runs and struck out six. Mariners relievers Austin Voth, Ryne Stanek (6-2), Trent Thornton and Andrés Muñoz made only one mistake when Jordan Westburg hit his 14th home run in the eighth.

Burnes made his first start since returning from the paternity list following additions to his family after his wife gave birth to twin girls. Burnes gave up Crawford’s single to begin the bottom of the first, then retired 12 straight before Rodríguez’s home run.

Burnes finished his outing with a dominant sixth inning, and allowed four hits and struck out six.

“Threw a few more pitches than wanted to but for the most part was pretty pleased with it,” Burnes said. “Didn’t spin the ball as well as I wanted to but that could be attributed to the layoff.”

ROSTER MOVE

Seattle claimed OF Duke Ellis off waivers from the New York Mets and assigned him to Triple-A Tacoma. Ellis has 34 stolen bases in 43 minor league games this season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: RHP Bryan Woo (hamstring) is expected to make a rehab start at Single-A Everett sometime this weekend. He could be joined by RHP Gregory Santos as he moves closer to rejoining the Mariners.

UP NEXT

Mariners RHP Luis Castillo (6-9, 3.87) will start the opener of a three-game series against Toronto on Friday.

————

MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 3

Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Henderson ss 5 1 3 2 0 0 .289
Kjerstad dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 .263
O’Hearn 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .289
Santander rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .234
Westburg 3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .280
Cowser lf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .225
Mullins cf 4 0 2 0 0 2 .220
Mateo 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .226
McCann c 3 1 2 0 1 1 .217
Totals 35 3 10 3 2 11
Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Crawford ss 4 1 2 3 0 0 .212
Garver dh 4 1 1 2 0 2 .177
Raleigh c 4 0 0 0 0 3 .198
Raley lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .248
Rodríguez cf 4 2 2 1 0 1 .247
France 1b 3 2 1 0 1 0 .232
Rojas 3b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .258
Haniger rf 1 1 0 0 2 0 .209
Bliss 2b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .228
Totals 30 7 7 6 3 11
Baltimore 002 000 010—3 10 0
Seattle 000 020 50x—7 7 0

LOB—Baltimore 7, Seattle 2. 2B_Henderson (18), Mullins (9), Rodríguez (7), Crawford (12). HR—Henderson (27), off Miller; Westburg (14), off Thornton; Rodríguez (8), off Burnes; Garver (11), off Akin. RBI—Henderson 2 (60), Westburg (49), Rodríguez (30), Crawford 3 (28), Garver 2 (33). SB—Crawford (5), Rodríguez (18).

Runners left in scoring position—Baltimore 4 (Henderson, Mateo 2, Santander); Seattle 2 (Crawford, Raley). RISP—Baltimore 0 for 7; Seattle 2 for 8.

Runners moved up—Bliss. GIDP—Mateo, Bliss.

DP—Baltimore 1 (Henderson, Mateo, O’Hearn); Seattle 1 (Crawford, Bliss, France).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Burnes 6 4 2 2 1 6 94 2.32
Baker, L, 1-1 2-3 1 3 3 2 2 24 5.91
Akin 1 1-3 2 2 2 0 3 27 3.83
Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Miller 5 2-3 8 2 2 1 6 93 3.84
Voth 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 6 3.31
Stanek, W, 6-2 1 0 0 0 0 2 11 3.67
Thornton 1 1 1 1 0 2 16 3.79
Muñoz 1 1 0 0 1 0 16 1.59

Inherited runners-scored—Akin 3-3, Voth 1-0. WP—Miller.

Umpires—Home, Adam Hamari; First, Brian Walsh; Second, Edwin Moscoso; Third, Vic Carapazza.

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