SEATTLE -- They’re slugging it in Seattle, and unlike this region has seen in quite some time.
The Mariners ran away to an 8-3 victory over the Mets on Tuesday night that extended their season-best win streak to eight games. And they did so by breaking out the bats -- again -- with another three homers that brought their tally to 21 since their last loss on May 24.
If that sounds noteworthy, it is.
No team has hit that many homers in an eight-game stretch all season, and only three did last year (the Yankees, Cubs and Angels).
Moreover, the Mariners haven’t had a homer surge like this since 2019, a year that saw a proliferation of power across the sport. Before that, though, Seattle’s most recent such run with this many homers in this few games was in 1999.
Taking it even further, of all the previous eight-game, 21-homer stretches in franchise history, the Mariners weren’t winning the way they are now -- having advanced to four games above .500 (33-29) for the first time this season.
During this win streak, they swept the team they passed atop the American League West (Athletics) and a National League contender (D-backs), and they have the chance to go for another sweep against the club with the sport’s second-highest payroll (Mets).
Julio Rodríguez punctuated the power on Tuesday with a sky-high solo shot in the sixth inning that hung for 6.6 seconds and traveled a Statcast-projected 396 feet. It was his 13th of the season and continued the best start to a season of his career that should have him on the cusp of his fourth All-Star selection.
But it was the unsung guys that put in the early elbow grease to give the club a commanding lead early, as injury fill-ins Patrick Wisdom (taking over for first baseman Josh Naylor) and Jhonny Pereda (for Cal Raleigh) went deep in the second and fifth innings, respectively.
And therein lies what makes this stretch even more substantial, as Wisdom and Pereda became the 10th and 11th different players to homer during this win streak. Basically, they’re getting contributions from everybody.