Julio Rodríguez stays hot, Mariners lose 3-2 in extras

Josh Naylor gets hit off a lefty in debut with Mariners

Julio Rodríguez is on a hot streak.

The Mariners lost 3-2 to the Angels in extra innings despite a pair of solo home runs by Rodríguez and the debut of Josh Naylor. Bryan Woo worked into the seventh inning with six strikeouts, and the bullpen got the game to the 10th unscathed. But their efforts could not outlast a feckless Mariners’ lineup, and the Angels eventually walked it off.

Rodríguez barreled a homer to right-center field in the first inning; he barreled an out to right field in the third; then he barreled a homer to left field in the sixth. His barrel rate in July is now 14.8%, and he entered the day on one of the steepest upward trajectories in MLB. He’s now on a patented mid-summer hot streak, as marked by the boos and ahhs he received from Angels fans frustrated with his dominance. Julio is up to a 114 wRC+ on the season and 3.1 fWAR — tied with Eugenio Suárez for 24th in MLB.

Naylor made his debut on Friday and batted fourth. He began the game 0-for-3 against righty José Soriano. He remained in the game when the Angels brought in a lefty reliever late and picked up a single for his first in a Mariners’ uniform. Dan Wilson chose not to pinch against a lefty with Donovan Solano, as he’s done 23 times this year — with one hit to show for it. It wasn’t clear whether Solano would continue in his semi-regular platoon role following the roster shakeup, but for at least one evening, the full-time job appears to belong to Naylor. The Mariners face lefty Tyler Anderson on Saturday.

The lineup on Friday also offered a glimpse towards the odd man out in the lefty-batter “log jam.” Dominic Canzone played right field, Jorge Polanco played DH, and Luke Raley sat. There are now four similar-ish players vying for three similar-ish spots in the Mariners’ lineup. While Naylor potentially represents an upgrade at first base against lefties (assuming Wilson continues to use him that way), he doesn’t quite move the needle against righties with the roster as it stands. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the Mariners have set a high bar for an upgrade. They entered the day:

• Fifth in MLB by wRC+ (113)
• Fifth against RHP (114)
• Second since June (116)
• First on the road (121)

That bar dropped a bit on Friday, however. The non-Julio lineup contributed just four hits — all singles — and two walks. They struck out nine times (including three from Cal Raleigh) and grounded out 14 times (including four from Ben Williamson). Their best opportunity came in the 10th with Cole Young on first, the ghost runner on second and nobody out. J.P. Crawford push-popped a bunt over the head of the Angels’ third baseman, who was crashing in; Williamson couldn’t quite make it to third to beat the force out, as he’d froze at second to see if the ball would drop. Julio and Cal followed in the order but neither could cash in the run. The game went to the bottom of the inning.

Casey Legumina nearly escaped the 10th. He got the first batter to fly out, which advanced the ghost runner to third. He got another out on a grounder to Williamson, who caught the runner at third off the bag in a pickle. But Zach Neto came through with a weak flare through a shifted infield to score the game winning run from second.

Woo’s night is unfairly buried at the end here. He was the main reason the Mariners were in the game to the 10th. He spun another a strong, winnable outing — 12 whiffs, six strikeouts and a Game Score of 64. He struggled in the first, allowing a single, walk and double to score to two runs, but he set down 15 of 16 to get to the seventh at a reasonable pitch count. He might have pitched deeper but got squeezed by the home plate umpire and exited following a 10-pitch leadoff walk to Yoán Moncada. He is now 20th in MLB with 2.5 fWAR in his All-Star season.

The Mariners missed an opportunity to gain ground on the Astros, who got shelled 15-3 on Friday. The Mariners remain five back in the AL West. The Rangers won their fourth straight game and moved to six back.