SEATTLE - The nightmare for Julio Rodríguez is finally over. It took the Mariners' star 23 games into the season to hit his first homer of the year and he did so in a fashionable manner. With one out in the third inning, Rodríguez' 435-feet homer ended up on the second deck of the stadium after the ball left his bat at 110.5 mph, making it the Mariners' hardest-hit and longest homer of the season.
"It was 'long time, no see' to my good friend," Rodríguez said.
J-Rod connects for his first homer of the year! 💪 pic.twitter.com/cJRFZ2GLoC
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2024
The 23-year-old snapped a streak of 25 games without a homer with his previous one also coming against the Texas Rangers in September of 2023. "Being able to get that good pitch and being able to drive it like how I know I can, it definitely felt really good," Rodríguez added.
In fact, the 23 games it took Rodríguez to hit his first homer of the season is the longest such streak of his career, surpassing the 21 games it took him to find the first homer of his rookie season in 2022.
The Dominican's two-run homer in the third inning put the Mariners 4-0 ahead against the Texas Rangers and they never looked back after that. Thanks to Rodríguez' efforts, Seattle snapped an eight-game losing streak against the reigning champions in Arlington and got their first win there since August of 2022.
With his outing against the Rangers on April 23, Julio Rodríguez is now on a seven-game streak with at least one hit and the Mariners have gone 6-1 during this stretch. In the last two weeks, Rodríguez has been on fire going 14-of-31 for an average of .452, the best in the Majors since April 15.
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