One swing of the bat from Julio Rodriguez was all the Seattle Mariners needed to beat the Chicago White Sox on Monday night. The Mariners won, 5-1, as Rodriguez’s grand slam proved to be more than enough to take down the worst team in the American League.
Holding a 1-0 lead through seven innings thanks to a third-inning two-out RBI single by Jorge Polanco, the Mariners were struggling to get more runs on the board. That was until Rodriguez entered the batter’s box with the bases loaded and only one out in the top of the eighth inning.
Then, Rodriguez, who has experienced an up and down season, clobbered a pitch over the left field fence. Rodriguez’s grand slam was his eighth home run of the year and put the game out of reach for a struggling Chicago team, who was coming off being swept by its crosstown-rival Cubs following a rare series win over Cincinnati a week ago.