M's Shortstop Did Something No Other Lefty Has Done All Season on Sunday

In hitting a leadoff home run on Sunday against the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners' shortstop J.P. Crawford became the first lefty all season to homer off Cole Ragans.

Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford (3) hits a home run during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on June 9. / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle Mariners' shortstop J.P. Crawford hit a leadoff home run for the second consecutive game on Sunday as the M's beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 at Kaufmann Stadium.

In doing so, Crawford became the first M's player since Julio Rodriguez (2022) to hit a leadoff homer in back-to-back games.

.@JP_Crawford has hit leadoff home runs in back-to-back games, becoming the first @Mariners player to do that since Julio Rodríguez (@JRODshow44) on Sept. 14 & 16, 2022.

.@JP_Crawford has hit leadoff home runs in back-to-back games, becoming the first @Mariners player to do that since Julio Rodríguez (@JRODshow44) on Sept. 14 & 16, 2022.

— Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) June 9, 2024

As impressive as that is, it's also incredibly impressive that Crawford became the first left-handed batter this season to homer off Royals' lefty Cole Ragans. He's only the second lefty to homer off of Ragans in the last two seasons, joining Shohei Ohtani.

Oh the Ohtani homer was last year? Sheesh.

— Mariner Muse (@MarinerMuse) June 10, 2024

Crawford went 2-for-5 on Sunday and continues to look more like himself at the plate after an early-season oblique injury. He's now hitting .226 but is hitting .258 over his last seven games. He has six homers this season and 18 RBI. Considering the M's issues scoring runs, they will take his thump out of the leadoff spot any time they can get it. He hit a career-high 19 home runs for the M's last season.

The Mariners are now 37-30 on the season and they lead the American League West by 5.0 games over the Texas Rangers. They'll open up a new four-game series with the Chicago White Sox on Monday night at T-Mobile Park.

First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. PT as Logan Gilbert takes the ball for Seattle.

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