SEATTLE -- Julio Rodríguez was not going to again be denied in the “No Fly Zone” territory that he’s trademarked at T-Mobile Park, especially after one of his more frustrating missed opportunities two days prior.
The Mariners center fielder made a remarkable home-run robbery during the first inning of Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the Yankees, yanking back a Statcast-projected 397-foot drive that was on its way to clearing the left-center-field wall.
But the Yanks ultimately landed the final blow when Aaron Judge crushed one way out in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie, blasting a 444-foot solo shot off Carlos Vargas that left his bat at 117.7 mph.
"What he's doing, I do that on the PlayStation maybe,” Rodríguez said. “It's just the truth.”
The Mariners had held Judge to a 4-for-11 clip with one double, one walk and three RBIs in the series before that at-bat, which was impressive enough given that the two-time American League MVP Award winner is in the midst of his best year yet.
"He got one, but it is what it is,” Rodríguez said. “He definitely is a great player, and it's very fun to watch. Now we can just watch him from afar.”
Even with Judge’s MLB-best 15th homer that raised his batting average to .412 and his OPS to 1.279, Rodríguez still had the highlight of the day.
With his epic catch, Rodríguez also exacted some revenge on Trent Grisham, who homered in the third inning on Monday on a ball that bounced off Rodríguez’s glove and over the fence in straightaway center, one that might not have had enough distance had it not nicked the mitt on the way out.
Grisham homered again later in that game on one that traveled farther and also went over Rodríguez, who didn’t seem to time it up as well.
"That's probably why I was even more excited,” Rodríguez said, “because obviously I had a chance to make a play in that first game of the series, and then this one, I was able to do it actually. So I was very hyped, especially taking a run away, too.”
On Wednesday, Rodríguez had a starting depth of 319 feet, then covered 96 feet back and to his right with 6.5 seconds of opportunity time. He timed his leap to snag the ball at the apex of his jump, over his left shoulder and directly in front of a crowded group of fans in the T-Mobile ‘Pen -- all of whom gave him the breathing room needed to corral it.
After landing back on the playing surface, Rodríguez hopped a few steps and then pumped his fist with emotion.
Statcast projected that the fly ball would’ve been a homer in 13 ballparks.
Sports Info Solutions confirmed that it was the fourth career home-run robbery for the talented center fielder, who is still seeking his first career Gold Glove Award.
"I’m looking forward to getting many more, though,” Rodríguez said.
Rodríguez made his first on June 24, 2023, when bringing back a 403-foot fly ball from Orioles slugger Ryan O’Hearn in Baltimore. Coincidentally, he made another robbery at Oriole Park last May 17, off Anthony Santander on a 406-foot flyball. Both featured a similar, over-the-shoulder body movement to Monday’s.
His best, though -- at least for theatrics -- was the fake-out against Fernando Tatis Jr. at T-Mobile Park on Aug. 8, 2023, when he fooled everyone into thinking that the ball cleared the wall before revealing it in his glove with a Cheshire Cat grin after Tatis began his home-run trot.
Rodríguez has been one of the top defensive outfielders this season, ranking in the 97th percentile with five outs above average.
He also accounted for both of the Mariners’ runs, ripping a 103.9 mph double just inside fair territory to break a scoreless tie in the third inning.
And he nearly had his eighth homer, a 374-foot flyout to the left-field warning track in the fifth that, with a runner on first base, might’ve been enough for a win.
"I feel good,” said Rodríguez, who has just an 11.5% strikeout rate in May, compared to 23.7% in March/April. “I’m just kind of like putting good at-bats every single night and letting the results take care of itself.”
The Mariners finished their homestand 1-5 -- over which they hit .190 with a .546 OPS -- and now head out on a three-city, 10-game road trip.