J-Rod answers fan BP challenge with HR, then duplicates it in win

HOUSTON -- Julio Rodríguez put on an absolute show during batting practice on Monday evening at Daikin Park, to the point where many who were up close took notice.

And turns out, there was a deliberate point to all those demolished baseballs -- and it came at the nudging of a heckling Astros fan, who was willing to wager his shoes.

It also had immediate competitive carryover a few hours later, when Rodríguez crushed a 414-foot solo homer during the third inning off Houston’s Peter Lambert.

That one nearly reached the train tracks way beyond left field and helped send Seattle to a 3-1 win -- the club’s eighth straight against its division rivals, which is its longest since the Astros joined the American League West in 2013.

And the huge homer all tied back to a pregame confab with that fan, who challenged the Mariners’ star center fielder on whether he could hit a BP homer to a specific spot above Houston’s Crawford Boxes. Above those left-field bleachers are 13 billboard-type advertisements that stretch from foul territory all the way beyond straightaway center.

Essentially, it was a closest-to-the-pin-type exercise.

The sign they settled on for the challenge was a Lexus advertisement that’s the sixth from the left among the 13 in question. And because the ads are massive metallic structures, they reverberate a booming sound any time a ball connects off of them. And it made BP on Monday that much louder.

“I put a good swing on it, and it literally hit the Lexus sign, right in the middle,” Rodríguez said. “And I literally walked out of the cage and said, 'Give me your shoes!' It was funny.”

And Rodríguez had a familiar confidante on the mound in the form of Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez, the Mariners’ director of hitting strategy.

Meanwhile, the in-game homer -- Rodríguez’s seventh of the season, which is one off Luke Raley’s eight for the team lead -- was just above the Lexus sign and to the left.

“Honestly, when I'm hitting BP,” Rodríguez said, “what I really like is to just kind of really feel like I'm driving the ball -- on time, behind it, not really rushing my swing. So it's kind of like thinking a little bit more. Like, try to have more thoughtful swings.”

At the end of the pregame back and forth, Rodríguez had the upper hand because he quickly exited the batter’s box, paced toward the first-base dugout -- above which the fan was standing -- and pointed for him to hand over his shoes.

“Hey, I’m a man of my word!” the fan was heard saying while tossing his footwear toward the playing surface.

The shoes themselves? Flip flops.

Once the Mariners were done with BP, Rodríguez returned the sandals to the fan and took a picture with him before first pitch. But not before making the fan run up and down the stairs as a good-natured way to get even.

“I kind of felt like sad for him, because he looked a little sad walking up the stairs,” Rodríguez said. “And I just said, 'Man, just walk up and down the aisle, and then whenever you go back down, I will give you your slides.' That was funny.”

Rodríguez nearly had another solo blast even earlier in the game, when yanking a 365-foot liner that just barely went into the foul-territory side of the Crawford Boxes.

It was close enough that manager Dan Wilson nearly challenged, but ultimately opted not to, then Rodríguez flied out to right.

“I was praying for that to stay in or at least hit the pole,” Rodríguez said. “I knew it was going to be close. But it was close.”

Though the Mariners have been searching for team-wide consistency amid a 20-22 start, Rodríguez has been an exception. For all the objective criticism he’s taken over his first four seasons for being a slow starter, that hasn’t been the case in 2026.

After a 2-for-4 night, his slash line is up to .277/.341/.452 (.793 OPS), which is almost identical to his career mark of .275/.332/.468 (.800 OPS).

Rodríguez doesn't regularly take on-field BP, but more like once per series to get a feel for the ballpark. Part of that limitation is rooted in load management, as he played in 160 games last year and led the AL with 710 plate appearances.

But Monday was an exception, and it led to quite a show -- and carryover to the game itself.