julio-getty-3.png
Getty Images

Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez authored Seattle's second 5-for-5 performance of the week (and 29th in franchise history) on Thursday afternoon as part of a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals (box score). Teammate Teoscar Hernández went 5 for 5 against the Royals on Tuesday.

Rodríguez's big game saw him launch his 20th home run of the season. He also drove in five runs, increasing his RBI total to 78. He entered the afternoon batting .261/.323/.437, and he's now up to .269/.329/.451 -- that's a 20-point improvement in OPS, for those unwilling to grab a calculator. 

Rodríguez has been on fire all of August. Even before Thursday's outing, he'd batted .328/.377/.531 with two home runs and 16 RBI in his first 14 games this month. Included in those numbers is his 4-for-6 game on Wednesday night. Add that performance to what he did on Thursday, and he recorded nine hits within a 24-hour period. That's a good way to improve your statline. 

Perhaps predictably, given how important Rodríguez is to the Seattle lineup, the Mariners are also in the midst of their finest month of the season. The M's are now 11-4 in August, putting them a half-game back of the Toronto Blue Jays for the third and final wild-card spot in the American League.

The Mariners will now head to Houston to begin a three-game series with the Astros on Friday. Beginning next week, they should be in line to make another surge. Seattle's schedule calls for series against the Chicago White Sox, these same Royals, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets -- 12 games, all against teams with losing records so far this season.

Who knows. Maybe Rodríguez will find it in him to put forth another 5-for-5 afternoon?