Julio's 3-Run Homer Lifts Mariners

Julio Rodríguez ripped a go-ahead three-run homer in a four-run seventh as the Mariners beat the Rangers 4-3 on Thursday night in Seattle. Jacob deGrom had looked untouchable for six innings, then left with groin tightness and a 3-0 lead. Jakob Junis could not hold it, and Julio turned a first-pitch sinker into his 21st home run of the season.

The swing flipped a night that started as a deGrom clinic into a wild-card scrap Seattle desperately needed. It also kept the recent Mariners home power storyline rolling after Randy Arozarena's earlier heroics.

deGrom's gem, then the bullpen break

deGrom retired his first 15 batters and struck out 12, his highest total since Sept. 19, 2022 with the Mets. He punched out eight of his first nine hitters and did not allow a hit until Cole Young's sixth-inning liner glanced off his glove. Manager Skip Schumaker said the two-time Cy Young left after six scoreless with one walk because of groin tightness while Texas still led 3-0.

Junis (1-3) hit Arozarena to open the seventh, then allowed Dominic Canzone's RBI single and Cal Raleigh's single. Julio jumped the first pitch and cleared the bases for a 4-3 Seattle lead. That is the lede: deGrom dominated, Julio decided it.

Gilbert's 11 K, Muñoz's 27th save

Logan Gilbert (12-9) matched the strikeout party with 11 punchouts over seven innings and became Seattle's first pitcher with consecutive double-digit strikeout games since James Paxton in 2018. The combined starter Ks were the most by opposing starters in the majors this season. Andrés Muñoz walked two with two outs in the ninth, then got Jake Burger to ground into a force for his 27th save in 36 chances after a review upheld Young's tag of Evan Carter.

Texas fell three games behind AL West-leading Houston and two games back of the last wild card. Seattle trails by five for the last wild card. Rangers open at Arizona next with Merrill Kelly. Mariners send George Kirby to the Athletics against Jeffrey Springs. Gilbert also made a sliding tag of Wyatt Langford off a Raleigh throw after a pitch bounced away in the seventh, the kind of little play that keeps a one-run lead alive.

For Mariners fans, Thursday was proof the lineup can still steal a night after a Cy Young audition. deGrom left healthy enough to walk off under his own power, but the bullpen window was real. Julio's 21st slammed it shut. That is September baseball in the AL West race: six innings of dominance, one first-pitch mistake, and a T-Mobile Park roar that traveled.