Inside The Mariners

Seattle Mariners Outfielders Shine in Series Win Against Tampa Bay Rays

Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles all homered and had multi-hit games for the Seattle Mariners in a 6-2 win against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

Teren Kowatsch

Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez flips his bat after hitting a two-run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park.
Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez flips his bat after hitting a two-run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park. / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
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SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson said before Wednesday's rubber match against the Tampa Bay Rays that he "knew it was going to happen." The "it" in question was Mariners franchise star Julio Rodriguez finding his swing again after a 1-for-18 stretch over the team's last five home games (before Wednesday).

Turned out Wilson's words were prophetic.

Seattle won 6-2 against Tampa Bay on Wednesday. The Mariners' outfield of Rodriguez, Victor Robles and Randy Arozarena all had home runs and multi-hit games.

The win improved Seattle's record to 68-66 and kept it 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West.

"Great ballgame today," Wilson said in a postgame interview Wednesday. "A lot of incredible positives coming from this one today. ... The home runs, obviously, that's a great way to get offense for sure. Coming with two outs, big at-bats. Guys swung it today a lot."

Josh Lowe opened the scoring with a solo home run to right field that put Tampa Bay up 1-0 in the top of the second.

The Mariners immediately evened things back up after Luke Raley hit an RBI sacrifice fly that scored Arozarena.

Neither team could break the knot in the next two innings but Seattle started to find its groove in the bottom of the fifth.

Robles hit a two-RBI home run to left field and Rodriguez followed two at-bats later with a two-run shot to left of his own.

The pair of homers put the Mariners up 5-1 going into the sixth.

The Rays had one more score left in them courtesy of Dylan Carlson — who hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit down to three runs.

Seattle starter Luis Castillo was pulled after Carlson's hit and was relieved by Austin Voth.

Voth pitched 1.1 innings and retired all four batters faced in order. He struck out the last three in the seventh.

Collin Snider entered the game in the eighth and retired the side, striking out one. Andres Munoz closed out the game in the ninth and put his batters down in order. He fanned two. The bullpen didn't allow one free base or hit.

Arozarena awarded the bullpen with a two-out solo home run to left field that resulted in the eventual final of 6-2. It was Arozarena's second homer this series against his former squad (Tampa Bay). He went 3-for-4 on Wednesday. It was Arozarena's second game with three-or-more hits this season and his first since July 20 when he was still with the Rays.

"There's tremendous excitement from (Arozarena, Rodriguez and Robles)," Wilson said. "Obviously Julio — we've seen what he brings. ... These guys — some big games out there. And they're going to play some great defense out there. It's an exciting outfield to watch. It's going to be fun to see these guys continue to work together."

There's 28 games left in the season and the Mariners are set to begin a 10-game road trip on Friday that includes series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals. The Astros' next 10 games include series against the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Seattle seems to have found new energy under Wilson. The team got healthier with the return of JP Crawford and have a significantly easier next 10 games than Houston does.

The time to catch up is now.

Related Stories on Seattle Mariners

CRAWFORD RETURN PROVIDES MARINERS DEPTH: Seattle Mariners shortstop JP Crawford's return from injury gives the team some much-needed depth as playoff push continues. CLICK HERE

CRAWFORD RETURNS TO THE LINEUP: The Seattle Mariners activated shortstop JP Crawford off the 10-day injured list and optioned outfielder Dominic Canzone to Triple-A Tacoma in a corresponding move on Wednesday. CLICK HERE

MARINERS MANAGER COMMENTS ON RODRIGUEZ'S STRUGGLES: Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson commented before Wednesday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays on the ongoing struggles of the team's franchise cornerstone, Julio Rodriguez. CLICK HERE

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Teren Kowatsch

TEREN KOWATSCH

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