Julio's 100th career home run helped him achieve a historic fourth consecutive 20-20 season.

Julio Rodríguez made history today with just one swing of the bat.

The 24-year-old Mariners star hit a slider from Jacob deGrom—who had just become the fastest pitcher to reach 1,800 career strikeouts in the previous inning—into right-center field during the third inning of the game, marking his 100th career home run and giving the Mariners the lead in their 5-4 victory over the Rangers.

“This is a significant achievement,” Rodríguez said. “I know my family is very happy, and I’m sure they are thinking about everything I’ve done to reach this point. It’s amazing to do this with this team and this organization. I’m just excited to see how things will unfold next.”

This home run made Rodríguez, who had already stolen 20 bases that day, the first player in Major League Baseball (MLB) history to start his career with four consecutive 20/20 seasons, and he is also the first player in Mariners history to achieve this feat four times. He is the third player to reach 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases in his first four seasons, joining Bobby Bonds and Darryl Strawberry.

He is the 17th player in Mariners history to reach 100 career home runs, accomplishing this in his 542nd game, making him the third-fastest player in team history to reach the milestone, behind Cal Raleigh (482 games) and Alex Rodriguez (470 games).

“He’s been swinging the bat really well lately,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “It’s quite impressive to achieve these milestones at such a young age.”

Rodríguez hit nine of his home runs after July 12, which has the Mariners hopeful that their center fielder will continue to excel as summer comes to a close. His batting line for the day was .251/.307/.429. Since becoming an MLB player in 2022, Rodríguez has had a batting average of .259 and an OPS of .745 from Opening Day to the end of July, but since August 2, those numbers have surged to .309 and .915, respectively.

Rodríguez also made his standard contributions on defense today, tracking down a hard-hit line drive off the bat of Josh Smith with an exit velocity of 103.6 mph near the center field wall, helping the team maintain a 5-3 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, after hitting a single through the left side, he stole his 21st base of the season, showcasing his all-around skill set.

This victory secured the Mariners a win in their four-game series against the Rangers, extending their lead over Texas in the AL Wild Card race to two games and narrowing their gap with Houston in the AL West to 2.5 games.

This game also concluded a stretch of 17 consecutive games since the All-Star break, during which the Seattle team halved their deficit in the West, made significant improvements before the trade deadline, and returned to their energetic home crowd with a 3-1 record in crucial divisional series.

“We’ve played four games with the new players, and we’re still adjusting, starting to build chemistry,” Wilson said. “It’s going to be an exciting journey.”

Rodríguez’s home run came after Jorge Polanco scored in the bottom of the second inning. This was followed by a two-run shot from J.P. Crawford, marking the second key home run for the Seattle shortstop in this series.

The Mariners finished the series with 13 extra-base hits, including seven home runs—this series began with Wilson placing Randy Arozarena in the leadoff spot, followed by Raleigh, Rodríguez, and newcomers Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez.

“It feels great to know this lineup has such depth,” starting pitcher Logan Evans said, who allowed three runs over five innings. “I don’t know what other teams’ strategies are for matching up with our lineup, but it might not end well for them.”

After Evans, despite three key bullpen pitchers being unavailable, the Mariners' bullpen had a solid day. Carlos Vargas steadied the situation after allowing a home run, while newly acquired left-hander Caleb Ferguson made his third scoreless appearance in five days with the team, and Andrés Muñoz secured his 25th save of the season with help from Raleigh's caught stealing at home.

Now, the Mariners will enjoy a day off, seemingly building momentum every night.

“We haven’t seen what we’re truly capable of yet,” Wilson said. “It’s coming. We’re very close. That’s why I think this series will be crucial for us to establish ourselves and carry that momentum into the next series.”