Mariners All-Star Week tracker: American League wins All-Star Game, 3-2
Julio Rodriguez and Ty France have arrived at Dodger Stadium to represent the Seattle Mariners at the All-Star Game.
Rodriguez kicks off the festivities at Monday’s Home Run Derby, and France will join the 21-year-old rookie in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Follow The News Tribune’s Mariners All-Star tracker for updates on both events at All-Star Week:
TUESDAY
8:30 p.m. -- Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase struck out the side and secured a 3-2 win for the American League in the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.
Clase whiffed his first pair of batters on six pitches and was one of two All-Stars to strike out three batters in Tuesday’s contest (Manoah, TOR). The AL has now won nine consecutive Midsummer Classics.
Julio Rodriguez finished 0-for-2 with a groundout and flyout. Ty France struck out to lead off the eighth inning, and was 0-for-1.
Yankees outfielder and Los Angeles native Giancarlo Stanton won All-Star Game MVP honors after crushing a no-doubt two-run homer to left field in the fourth inning.
8:10 p.m. -- Chicago reliever Liam Hendriks induced an inning-ending flyout to center field, caught by Seattle rookie Julio Rodriguez.
Hendriks, understandably, wanted the ball back: likely as a memento for his only recorded out in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. But Rodriguez motioned to the bleachers, jokingly threatening to toss the ball to fans at Dodger Stadium.
“Don’t throw the ball away,” Hendriks screamed, walking back to the AL dugout. “Julio! Julio! Give me the ball!”
Rodriguez chuckled before tossing the ball to the infield.
8:05 p.m. -- Julio Rodriguez joined the FOX broadcast mid-game in center field as the AL held a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning. France, a pinch hitter in the top of the frame, remained in the game at first base.
“It’s been a blast. Look at this,” Rodriguez said, looking to the bleachers behind him at Dodger Stadium. “It’s amazing. It’s surreal.”
FOX asked Rodriguez: is this the year the Mariners finally break the longest current postseason drought in North American sports?
“Oh, for sure,” he replied. “I feel like that’s all we’re shooting for. ... I feel like everybody is on the same page about it. I think it’s going to be pretty exciting at the end of the season.”
Rodriguez closed in on Dansby Swanson’s shallow flyout to center field for the second out of the inning -- the first time a player recorded an out while “mic’d up” in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
8 p.m. -- Julio Rodriguez flew out to right field to end the top of the eighth, and is 0-for-2 in his All-Star Game debut. The American League maintains a slim 3-2 lead in the bottom of the frame.
7:55 p.m. -- Ty France led off the eighth inning and struck out in a five-pitch battle with St. Louis flamethrower Ryan Helsley.
France entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez, and quickly fell behind 0-2. He fouled off a 100-mph fastball to keep the at-bat alive, but swung and missed a down-and-away 1-2 slider for the first out of the frame.
France was named to the American League roster on Sunday as an injury replacement for Angels superstar Mike Trout. Before Sunday’s game at Globe Life Field in Texas, Mariners manager Scott Servais dramatically broke the news to France in front of his teammates, and the first baseman was subsequently mobbed in celebration at his locker.
7:10 p.m. -- In his first at-bat of the All-Star Game, Julio Rodriguez grounded out to second base in the sixth inning. Arizona reliever Joe Mantiply worked a scoreless frame, though the AL maintains a 3-2 lead.
Ty France has yet to appear in the contest.
6:45 p.m. -- Julio Rodriguez replaced Byron Buxton in center field as a defensive substitution in the bottom of the fourth inning. Rodriguez is now batting sixth in the American League lineup.
6:30 p.m. -- Minnesota’s Byron Buxton launched a solo homer to left field in the fourth inning, giving the American League its first lead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
The blast marked back-to-back homers for Buxton and New York’s Stanton, both off Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin. Now up 3-2, the AL looks to win their ninth consecutive Midsummer Classic.
6:25 p.m. -- Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton demolished a 457-foot homer to left field in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s All-Star Game, plating Jose Ramirez and tying the contest, 2-2.
5:35 p.m. -- St. Louis infielder Paul Goldschmidt launched a solo homer to left field in the first inning of Tuesday’s All-Star Game, pushing the National League lead to 2-0.
Earlier in the frame, Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts plated the game’s first run and singled home Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr.
American League starter Shane McClanahan -- the 25-year-old is 10-3 with a 1.71 ERA in 18 starts for Tampa Bay this season -- allowed four hits, two runs, and struck out one in an inning of work.
Dodgers ace and National League starter Clayton Kershaw worked a scoreless inning in his home ballpark at Dodger Stadium. Ty France and Julio Rodriguez -- Seattle’s pair of All-Stars -- weren’t in Tuesday’s starting lineup, but were introduced pregame and should appear as reserves.
In a new twist, the All-Star Game will end in a Home Run Derby tiebreaker if the contest is tied after nine innings. Teams selected three players each to participate, plus three coaches to throw batting practice. Each player receives three swings, and the team with the most combined homers would be crowned winner of the Midsummer Classic.
American League participants would include both Rodriguez and France and Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker. The National League would counter with Mets slugger Pete Alonso, Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber, and Acuna Jr.
MONDAY
7:45 p.m. -- Nationals outfielder Juan Soto defeated Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez in the Home Run Derby, blasting 19 homers across a three-minute final round to win the title at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Rodriguez took the first pair of rounds by storm, launching 32 home runs to best Rangers shortstop Corey Seager in the quarterfinals, plus 31 more to beat New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso — who was the two-time defending champion — in the semifinals.
“Amazing … great young kid,” Soto said of Rodriguez on ESPN after the final round. “A lot of power.”
Rodriguez mashed 81 total homers Monday night, grabbing the attention of Hall-of-Famers and current All-Stars in attendance. No other player came close to that number, including the eventual winner in Soto, who hit 53.
“He’s unbelievable,” Tigers infielder Miguel Cabera told ESPN. “He’s got great power.”
Ken Griffey Jr., the only three-time champion in the history of the derby, said: “(Julio’s) impressive, but he’s built for this. He’s a big kid. He’s solid and put together. It’s fun to watch.”
The “J-Rod Show” impressed on the national stage and the performance resulted in a runner-up finish for the 21-year-old rookie, who is set to make a $750,000 bonus for taking second place, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Rodriguez’s salary for the 2022 season is $700,000.
Rodriguez hit 18 homers in the final round, receiving only two-and-a-half minutes to Soto’s three. Rodriguez did not hit two homers of 440 feet or more and failed to receive an additional 30 seconds of bonus time.
Soto’s victory came days after initial reports that the 23-year-old All-Star had rejected a 15-year, $440 million extension from the Washington Nationals, which would have made him the highest-paid player in baseball history.
Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Washington “plans to entertain” trade offers for the star outfielder, meaning Soto could be on the move before the Aug. 2 trade deadline.
Next year’s derby and All-Star Game are hosted by the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, where Rodriguez could look to avenge his loss in the championship round.
7:20 p.m. — Julio Rodriguez will face Washington outfielder Juan Soto in the Home Run Derby final. Rodriguez took down two-time reigning champion Pete Alonso with 31 homers in the semifinals, while Soto needed only 16 homers to advance, defeating Cardinals designated hitter Albert Pujols.
7 p.m. — Julio Rodriguez is a Home Run Derby finalist, and defeated the two-time defending champion to get there.
The “J-Rod Show” continued in the second round, as Rodriguez mashed another 31 homers in the semifinals, defeating New York Mets infielder Pete Alonso.
Entering Monday’s contest, only four players in the history of the Home Run Derby had launched 30 home runs in a single round.
Rodriguez already has two such rounds. He’s the first player in history to do so in a single derby, and will face the winner of a semifinals meeting between Washington’s Juan Soto and St. Louis’ Albert Pujols for the crown.
Alonso won in 2019 as a rookie and again in 2021 — there was no derby in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — but Rodriguez led off the semifinals and nearly matched his first-round total. He crushed 23 homers in the opening three minutes, plus another eight in an added minute of bonus time.
5:40 p.m. — Julio Rodriguez may be the youngest player competing in Monday night’s Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium, but the 21-year-old took little time to prove he belonged.
By the end of the first round, Rodriguez had crushed 32 homers in four minutes, defeating Texas shortstop Corey Seager and advancing to the semifinals.
The first to step into the batter’s box, Rodriguez homered on his third and fourth swings, and by the end of a three-minute regulation period, had dumped 25 baseballs into Dodger Stadium’s outfield bleachers.
Players receive 30 seconds of bonus time after each round, and are rewarded with 30 additional seconds given they hit two homers over 440 feet. In the first round, Rodriguez hit 10 such blasts.
The longest of Rodriguez’s 32 homers carried 463 feet; J-Rod averaged 420 feet per home run in the first round. He launched 13,437 feet worth of homers in four minutes, the fifth-most in any derby round since Statcast began tracking that number in 2016.
One minute of bonus time and seven home runs later, Rodriguez capped an impressive first round in his derby debut and created a difficult path for the opposing Seager.
“I went out there and did what I wanted to. I went out there and had fun,” Rodriguez told ESPN. “It was a great experience. I’m happy to be here right now.”
Seager homered on his first two swings but was eliminated after finishing with 24.
Rodriguez moves on to the semifinals to meet the two-time defending champion in New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who bested Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. in the first round.
Cardinals designated hitter Albert Pujols, participating in his fifth and final derby, defeated Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber in a one-minute swing-off after both hit 13 homers in the opening round. Washington’s Juan Soto (18 homers) took down Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez in the first round (17).
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published July 18, 2022 at 6:01 PM.
