Mariners extend win streak. Rodriguez mashes grand slam. This M named to All-Star game

For a 21-year-old rookie having suited up only 91 times in a young-but-blossoming baseball career, Julio Rodriguez’s laundry list of accomplishments only continues to grow.

There are the pair of American League Rookie of the Month awards, won in May and June. There is last weekend’s All-Star selection, putting Rodriguez in Tuesday’s midsummer classic at Dodger Stadium. On Wednesday, he announced he will participate in Monday’s Home Run Derby.

And on Friday night, Rodriguez stood in the batter’s box at Globe Life Field with two outs and the bases loaded, hoping to shut the door on Texas and preserve Seattle’s then-11-game winning streak.

As the Mariners were clinging to a one-run lead in the eighth inning, Rodriguez followed a pair of strikeouts after Seattle loaded the bases with nobody out. Hard-throwing Texas reliever Jose Leclerc, brought in two at-bats prior, was an out away from navigating the jam.

But Rodriguez, who quickly fell behind 1-2, took a pair of wayward breaking balls in the dirt to work a full count. He found Leclerc’s payoff pitch — a 96 mph fastball at the strike zone’s top rail — and launched it 420 feet over the center field wall. It was Seattle’s first grand slam this season, and all but assured a 12th straight victory.

“I’ve been (managing for) a while. … We are entertaining,” Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters in Texas postgame. “And hopefully our fan base is enjoying this as much as we are.

“The looks in our dugout when that ball went over the fence (were) like, ‘Did he just really do that?’ ”

At first, Servais didn’t believe the blast, which jumped off Rodriguez’s bat at 106 mph, would carry over the park’s center field wall. But Rangers center fielder Leody Taveras soon ran out of room, and Seattle jumped to an 8-3 lead — the eventual final score.

From Seattle’s dugout, Sam Haggerty and Marco Gonzales pointed to the sky in excitement. Dylan Moore and Eugenio Suarez double-high-fived. And Leclerc, still on the mound, appeared stunned.

“What’s really impressive is, (Julio) doesn’t let the moment be bigger than it is,” said Seattle starter Robbie Ray, who watched Rodriguez’s slam from the clubhouse. “Competitive pitch, and he did what he did. It’s just really special to watch him play day in and day out.

“The poise he has out there, he carries himself really well, and he’s super humble. He works really hard. He prepares himself for those moments, and it’s really fun to watch.”

Servais compared the rise of the “J-Rod Show” to the smash-hit debut of Ken Griffey Jr. Rodriguez, like other stars, forces you to keep your eyes on him, Servais added, and there’s a feeling in the dugout that when Rodriguez steps up to the plate or takes off on the base paths, something special will happen.

“He’s a joy to watch,” Servais said. “He really is. And how he plays the game … the intensity he plays with, the competitiveness, it’s just been awesome to watch.”

The bases loaded at-bat was actually Rodriguez’s second of the game, after singling home Adam Frazier and nearly scoring Justin Upton on a play at the plate in the fourth inning, then pushing Seattle’s lead to 4-3. Ray pitched into the seventh inning of Friday’s win, walking none and striking out a dozen, matching a season-high.

Ray worked five scoreless innings before Rangers shortstop Corey Seager homered in the sixth inning and Taveras went deep for a two-run homer in the seventh, cutting Texas’ deficit to one. Yet, the reigning Cy Young Award winner told reporters it was the best he’d felt all year, carving through hitters with a reliable four-seamer and improving two-seamer that has pushed Ray’s performances back to an All-Star level.

“Everything was working really well for me, four-seam, two-seam,” he added. “I just really needed those two pitches tonight. The slider was OK, but the two-seam and four-seam worked off of each other really well tonight. I had a lot of success with it.”

Ray’s dominant outing was the headline of Servais’ “winning formula,” utilized throughout the win streak — a quality start from the rotation, plus a budding offense with a top-10 OPS in baseball this month (.743). Seattle’s bullpen — which recently welcomed back former starter Matt Brash after a stint with Triple-A Tacoma — continues to shine, now ranked fifth in earned runs allowed in MLB this season (118).

“I can’t think of a team (I’ve been on) that’s been on a run like this,” Ray said. “We’re just going out (and) trying to win every pitch. … One pitch at a time, one at-bat at a time, one game at a time.”

A day later, Andres Munoz threw the Mariners’ fastest pitch since 2008 (103 mph) in the sixth inning of Saturday’s 3-2 win, and joined Paul Sewald and Diego Castillo with an inning of scoreless relief. After J.P. Crawford singled home automatic-runner Sam Haggerty in extra innings, Matt Festa earned his first save of the season by striking out the side.

The streak continued. The Mariners had won 13 in a row.

“It is a total team,” Servais said. “That’s what it takes. It’s what all great teams do.”

“The team’s just playing great,” said Saturday starter Logan Gilbert, who twirled five innings of one-run ball. “It’s really fun in there right now. … Festa’s the man.”

After Saturday’s win, Baseball Reference gave Seattle a 73.5 percent chance to make the postseason and snap a 20-plus-year playoff drought. That figure is up 66.2 percent in the last month — a complete turnaround for a team many wrote off by May.

Sunday, Rodriguez drove in another pair of runs on a seventh-inning single, extending the Mariners lead in what eventually was a 6-2 win.

The streak is now 14, tied with Atlanta for the longest in the majors this season and one shy of a franchise mark set in 2001 when the Mariners won 116 games.

The Mariners (51-42) are 22-3 in their last 25 and currently hold the second of three AL wild card allocations, one game ahead of third-place Toronto. The Mariners enter a four-day All-Star break three games ahead of Boston — currently the first team out — and reconvene on Friday night for a weekend home series with the Astros.

HAGGERTY RIPS INSIDE-THE-PARKER

After a routine Abraham Toro groundout in the fourth inning of Thursday’s game in Arlington, Texas pitcher Martin Perez had worked 3 2/3 scoreless frames, and the Mariners, trailing 4-0, were in danger having their then-10-game win streak snapped.

At the time, ESPN pegged Seattle’s chances to win the game at 7 percent. But with two outs and the bases empty, Sam Haggerty managed to nullify the shutout and tackle a feat no Mariner has done since 2007.

The 28-year-old utility infielder rifled what set up to be a single to center field before Texas outfielder Leody Taveras failed to play the ball on a hop, letting it roll to the deepest part of Globe Life Field. Haggerty hustled out of the batter’s box, which set up a prime opportunity for an inside-the-park home run, last done in a Seattle uniform by fellow utility man Willie Bloomquist on June 15, 2007.

“When the ball gets by the center fielder like that, and the guy can run, it’s the first thing you’re thinking about,” Servais said.

“He was flying around the bases.”

Haggerty slid head-first into home, congratulated first by outfielder Jesse Winker, who pumped his fists in celebration. Servais grinned and high-fived an out-of-breath Haggerty, who scored Seattle’s first run.

Taveras offset his mistake with a run-scoring single in the fifth inning, but Seattle later rallied behind Eugenio Suarez’s two-run single in the seventh inning, closing the deficit to 5-3. Rodriguez notched an RBI on an eighth-inning hit by pitch and Ty France’s two-run single in the next at-bat provided the game’s winning runs.

“(Haggerty had) the energizing play of the game, to make you feel like we can get back into this thing,” Servais said. “We caught a little break there, and took advantage of it from there.”

FRANCE GETS ALL-STAR NOD

France nearly ran out of time, but Sunday’s announcement was worth the wait — the first baseman is an AL All-Star.

France was announced as an injury replacement for Angels center fielder Mike Trout, and joins Rodriguez as the second Seattle player to head to Los Angeles for Tuesday’s game. Initially a fan-vote finalist to start the All-Star Game at first base, France was considered a snub after missing the reserve roster. He posted a .308 average with 11 homers in the season’s first half.

Before Sunday’s series finale with Rangers, Servais addressed the clubhouse for an announcement.

“We have another All-Star,” Servais said, before pointing to France. “You’re going to the All-Star Game.”

Minnesota outfielder Byron Buxton, already named to the team, will start in lieu of Trout, meaning France — and center fielder Rodriguez — will begin Tuesday’s game as reserves.

ON DECK

Still riding a 14-game win streak, Seattle enjoys four off days during the All-Star break. That excludes Rodriguez, who faces Rangers shortstop Corey Seager in the first round of Monday’s Home Run Derby at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Rodriguez will suit up alongside France for the AL team in the 92nd playing of the midsummer classic, also slated for 5 p.m.