Mariners Greatest Hits: Shortstop Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez

September 30th, 2000

Right before A-Rod would leave the Mariners organization in the dust because 180 million dollars just wasn’t enough, he left M’s fans with one last memory.

In a complete dismantling of the Los Angeles Angels, A-Rod would have one of his best games of his career with any team.

In the 1st, A-Rod took advantage of Tim Belcher’s pitch and drove it into the stands for a two-run shot.

In the 3rd, Belcher was able to redeem himself by forcing Rodriguez to pop out to first. But, not reaching base awoke a beast in the Mariners shortstop because he would make the Angels pay in his next at-bats.

In the 4th, A-Rod singled to right scoring Mike Cameron for his 3rd RBI of the night. In the 7th, he smacked his second home run of the day. This time he blasted a three-run shot that extended the Mariners lead to 9-2. It was his final multi-home game in an M’s uniform.

But A-Rod wasn’t done there, although none of his remaining at-bats would have an equal impact to that home run. He would strikeout in the 7th then single in the 8th and in the 9th, he would hit a sacrifice fly to bring home another run.

His seven RBIs this night tied his career-high that he set earlier in the year, and it was his 18th and final game in a Mariners uniform in which he had four or more hits.