As Baseball Hall of Fame member Ichiro Suzuki wrapped up his pregame speech Saturday upon the retirement of his No. 51 jersey, he turned to the Seattle Mariners’ dugout and had a few words for the players.
“This year’s team has a great opportunity,” he said. “You guys are strong and talented. Please do not take your talent for granted. You have a great team and a great opportunity in front of you. I understand there is pressure to win, but the thing about winning is it is always tough and never comes without pressure. Accept the pressure and figure out how you can perform at your best under pressure. … I am confident you can seize the moment.”
The Mariners’ stars seemingly took those words to heart. Julio Rodriguez hit two home runs and Cal Raleigh added his major league-leading 44th of the season in a 7-4 victory against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.
The Mariners will look to sweep the three-game series Sunday afternoon when they send Bryan Woo (9-6, 3.02 ERA) to the mound against Tampa Bay’s Adrian Houser (6-3, 2.54 ERA) in a matchup of right-handers.
The Mariners have won six consecutive games and are 8-1 on their 10-game homestand to pull within a half-game of division-leading Houston in the American League West and tie Boston atop the AL’s wild-card standings.
“It was perfect. Definitely before the game in my head I was like, ‘We got to get this (win) for Ichi,’” Rodríguez said. “It was a very special night. We definitely got to go out with a bang and to be able to go like that, the energy in the beginning of the game was unmatched. Cal’s home run, too. It was definitely an awesome night.”
Raleigh’s homer, a three-run shot into the Mariners’ bullpen in left-center field in the third inning, also gave him an MLB-best 96 RBIs.
Josh Naylor returned to the Mariners’ lineup after missing one game with shoulder discomfort and had two doubles and stole his 11th base in as many attempts in 14 games since being acquired from Arizona.
“It just shows the quality of our team, that we can beat you in many different ways and we have the means to just get it done,” Rodriguez said. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”
Rodriguez’s two homers gave him a dozen over his past 25 games as he continues his career-long trend of warming up with summer heat.
“When he finds the barrel, it’s a rocket somewhere,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero went deep for the Rays, who fell 5 1/2 games back in the race for the AL’s third and final wild-card berth.
Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who started the series opener Friday, took a keen interest in Ichiro’s ceremony as he was born in nearby Puyallup, Wash.
“His first year I would have been 5, 6 years old, and some of my oldest baseball memories do circle around the Mariners in that time,” Rasmussen said. “Really cool to have the opportunity to watch him, a childhood hero of mine. It’s just one of those things that’s a really cool experience to get to be here and get to witness him be remembered as a Mariner great forever.”
Houser, acquired from the Chicago White Sox before the trade deadline, was roughed up in his first start with the Rays, giving up five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings in a 5-1 loss Monday at the Los Angeles Angels.
He’s 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in two career starts against the Mariners. The victory came May 20 in Chicago when he allowed just two hits over six innings in a 1-0 decision.
Woo beat the visiting White Sox 8-3 Tuesday as he allowed one run on two hits over seven innings and matched his career-high with nine strikeouts. He’s 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one previous start against the Rays.