BALTIMORE -- If Julio Rodríguez does complete the second 30-30 season of his career in 2025, home run No. 24 will be, without a doubt, the weirdest.

The at-bat during the Mariners’ 5-3 loss to the Orioles on Thursday at Oriole Park began amid increasingly heavy rain that neither Rodríguez nor O’s starter Tomoyuki Sugano wanted to play through.

Sugano hesitated so long on the mound that he was penalized one ball for a pitch clock violation, then after a mound conference, still hesitated to make another offering.

Rodríguez wasn’t bothered by Sugano’s hesitation. If anything, he was on his side, motioning to plate umpire Austin Jones toward deteriorating conditions in the batter’s box with his bat.

“Honestly, I was not -- I was telling the umpire, ‘This is going to get bad,’” Rodrigue

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