Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez left Saturday’s game against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays after the first inning without making a plate appearance.
There was no immediate word on the reason for Rodriguez’s departure. He jammed his right thumb in Thursday’s game against Baltimore and was dealing with a knee issue Friday, according to the Mariners’ ROOT Sports TV crew.
Rodriguez, 23, started in center field and was batting fourth in the lineup before Luke Raley moved from first base to replace him in center field. Ty France, who entered the game in the top of the second inning at first base, batted in Rodriguez’s spot in the order. He flew out in the bottom of the second in his first at-bat.
Rodriguez appeared to be coming out of a slump, when he was 7-for-56 (.125) without an extra-base hit or RBI. Then he went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double, one stolen base and two total runs scored in Thursday’s 7-3 win over the Orioles.
He went 1-for-4 with one run scored in a 2-1 loss to Toronto on Friday in moving his batting average to .247 with eight homers and 30 RBIs in 90 games this season.
–Field Level Media