SEATTLE — On the day reserved for the celebration of the life and contributions of Jackie Robinson, the reigning winner of the American League Rookie of the Year award, which now is now named after Robinson, offered a reminder of why he won the prestigious award in a near-unanimous vote last season and why he is still the focal point in a Seattle Mariners offense that is slowly starting to gain respectability.
Julio Rodriguez drove in four runs, including a scintillating three-run, stand-up triple punctuating a five-run fourth inning, to lead the Mariners to a 9-2 trouncing of the Colorado Rockies.
While the much of the baseball focus in the Pacific Northwest had centered on Jarred Kelenic and his spectacular start to the season and his streak of consecutive games with a homer, Rodriguez had been relatively quiet coming into the homestand.
