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

April 16th, 2000

Before his seven-RBI game in September he was setting his personal record for his most RBIs in a contest up to that point two weeks into the 2000 season. He also achieved something on this mid-April day that he would only do four other times in his career.

A-Rod started strong by blasting a two-run long bomb that would put the Mariners up early on the hosting Toronto Blue Jays.

He would single in his next at-bat in the 3rd but would revert back to his slugging ways with his second homer of the night, another two-run shot in the 4th.

This 2nd homer extended the Mariners lead to 8-4, and although that would’ve been enough runs to beat the Blue Jays on this day, the Mariners and A-Rod, in particular were far from finished.

In the 5th, A-Rod would draw a walk to reach base and would score via the very next batter, John Olerud, who would single to left.

A-Rod would strikeout in the 7th -this would be the only time that Rodriguez would not record a hit in his five registered at-bats- but was saving his best and biggest hit for last.

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In the 8th, with the Mariners already up 15-7, A-Rod came to the plate with the bases loaded and capitalized on the opportunity to make personal history. Rodriguez would blast a ball to left-center-field for his 3rd homer and 5th run scored on the day.

Those 4 RBIs that he collected with that last swing of his game would be the last the Mariners would score that night capping off an easy 19-7 victory.

The five runs scored that game was a tremendous feat. Only three other men in Mariners history have ever reached those numbers: Adrian Beltre, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. On that day, Rodriguez also became one of only 10 Mariners to ever hit three or more home runs in a single game.

That concludes our list of the best games that Alex Rodriguez ever put up in a Mariners uniform. Had he stayed with the team, many of those great moments he would end up having with the Yankees would’ve happened in Seattle, but there’s no use in crying over spilled milk now.

Next: Will Cruz Keep Crushing?

We hope you enjoyed these top-three moments in A-Rods Mariners career. If you think we missed a game or even if you think we were spot on, let us know in the comments section below.

On February 11th we’ll reveal our top third baseman in the team’s history. Stay tuned to find out who we chose.