Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez Makes History With 20-20 Season In First 4-Years

Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.

Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning – his 100th career homer – and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.

“That’s a very big accomplishment,” Rodriguez told reporters. “I know my family’s very happy, and I’m sure they’re thinking of all the things I had to do to be able to get here. To be able to do it with this team and this organization is awesome. I’m just excited to see where things are going to go from here.”

Rodriguez passed Alex Rodriguez’s previous mark of three seasons and is the third-fastest Mariner to reach 100 career homers behind only A-Rod and Cal Raleigh.

With 100 homers and 106 stolen bases so far, Rodriguez is just the third player to have 100 homers and 100 stolen bases in his first four seasons, with the others being Bobby Bonds and Darryl Strawberry.

Rodriguez brought the crowd to its feet again at the top of the fifth with a great running catch on a fly ball from Rangers third baseman Josh Smith, then flashed his signature “No Fly Zone” sign to the center-field seats.

“His accomplishments at a very young age are pretty impressive,” manager Dan Wilson said. “Congratulations to Julio on that milestone, and what he has done defensively out there for us in center field has been incredible. Another couple of really nice catches today, one right at the wall that was a tough chance, and he just continues to roll. It’s been nothing but outstanding from Julio.

Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in significant league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.

The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4). Still, they tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.