Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez had his teammates, opponents, fans and even the broadcast team fooled on Tuesday night with an epic leaping catch during his game against the San Diego Padres.
Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert was facing off against Padres slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. The hard-hitting infielder drove the ball to center field, and it appeared the ball was going to carry over the fence. Rodriguez tracked the ball down and leaped up to try and make the grab.
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Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez laughs after fooling San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. into thinking he was unable to catch his long fly ball at the wall during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Rodriguez appeared to make the catch, but it was not apparent at first. He came down and appeared to try to hold back a smile. He then showed the baseball in his glove and he was beaming.
“He’s just a special talent,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We’ve been spoiled here in Seattle. There was another center fielder here for a long, long time that could do those types of things.”
The home run would have put the Padres up 1-0 in the fourth inning. Instead, the game remained 0-0.
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Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez catches a fly ball from San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Cal Raleigh and Dylan Moore contributed RBI in the fifth and sixth innings. Seattle won the game 2-0 and moved to 61-52 on the season and dropped the Padres to 55-59 on the year.
Rodriguez finished 2-for-4.
“Pitching and defense wins a lot of games, and we are witnessing some awesome pitching right now,” Servais said. “Logan took it to another level tonight against a really formidable lineup.
“It doesn’t get much better.”
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San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. stops jogging the bases after realizing that Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez had caught his long fly ball during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Gilbert picked up his 10th win of the season. He struck out 12 in seven innings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
