Julio Rodríguez hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to help spoil Jacob deGrom’s return to the mound and send the Seattle Mariners to a 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
Back after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2023, DeGrom left after 3 2/3 innings with a 2-0 lead and the Rangers had a 4-0 advantage.
Rodríguez began Seattle’s rally with a double in the seventh that set up two runs. Then in the next inning, he hit his 15th homer of the season to deep left field with two outs off David Robertson (3-4).
“I feel like that’s every player's dream,” Rodríguez said. “I feel like if you go across leagues and sports, as a player you want to be in the batter’s box in those moments.”
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JT Chargois (3-1) struck out three in the eighth for the victory, and Andrés Muñoz struck out one in the ninth en route to his 21st save.
DeGrom struck out four and gave up four hits in his first game since April 2023, showing some of the speed and power that has made him a two-time Cy Young Award winner. He reached 98 mph occasionally, but left before finishing the third with two runners on base when he reached his pitch count.
“The last thing that I’m trying to figure out is my slider,” deGrom admitted. “You know, it’s not as consistent as it normally is.”
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Texas built a 2-0 lead early, capitalizing on a costly Emerson Hancock mistake to start the game. Hancock hit leadoff batter Marcus Simien, who moved to third on Josh Smith’s single. Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Jung delivered two-out RBI singles for a 2-0 lead.
Wyatt Langford made it 3-0 with a solo home run off Hancock, his 11th of the season. Lowe added an RBI single in the seventh to make it 4-0.
DeGrom was having a fairly easy outing until the fourth when Josh Raley doubled and moved to third on Justin Turner’s single. Manager Bruce Bochy pulled deGrom one out later on his 61st pitch.
Reliever Walter Pennington ended the inning with a ground out. Seattle rallied in the seventh after reliever José Ureña hit Victor Robles to start the inning. He gave up a double to Rodríguez to put runners in scoring position and Cal Raleigh’s sacrifice fly and Randy Arozarena’s RBI single made it 4-2.
Rodríguez hit the field early for batting practice and was locked in all night, going 4 for 5 with three hits reaching 100 mph exit velocity.
“That home run was crushed,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “That was tremendous, that was a big blow right there. ... There aren’t many balls hit into that upper deck there. That was really launched.”
Though he has a third straight starter on a pitch count Saturday with Max Scherzer due back, Bochy said he wasn't worried about the bullpen.
“We have coverage tomorrow to help out Max,” Bochy said. “And we knew that we have to have that kind of coverage.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
The Rangers officially moved SS Corey Seager to the 60-day injured list. He will undergo season-ending sports hernia surgery.
ROSTER MOVE
To make space for deGrom on the roster, the Rangers optioned RHP Owen White to Triple-A Round Rock.
UP NEXT
Rangers RHP Scherzer (2-4, 3.89 ERA) was set to make his first start since July after a stint on the injured list because of shoulder and nerve pain in his right arm. RHP Logan Gilbert (7-11, 3.15) was scheduled to start for Seattle.
