ARLINGTON -- The bat flip signified both an exhale and “enough of this.”
And the man wielding the lumber on Sunday afternoon carried the credibility to make such an unspoken gesture.
With one massive swing, Dominic Canzone -- the most consistent hitter in the Mariners’ listless lineup -- launched a three-run homer into the second deck at Globe Life Field and lifted an entire clubhouse on his shoulders to stop the bleeding during a brutal stretch.
Seattle hung on to win 6-4 over Texas to snap a four-game skid, emerging victorious in Arlington for the first time this season.
Canzone’s Statcast-projected 400-foot blast in the seventh inning was immediately followed by one of identical distance from Randy Arozarena. Then, for a curtain call, Canzone drove in a critical insurance run in the ninth, yanking an 0-2 changeup into the right-field corner for an RBI double.
Canzone’s homer didn’t just provide a spark, it also offered a reminder for how vital the long ball is to the success and sustainability of Seattle’s offense.
The Mariners hadn’t homered since Julio Rodríguez’s blast on Tuesday. No team in baseball has relied more on home runs than the Mariners, who improved to 44-25 when they leave the yard compared to 8-29 when they don’t.