Victor Robles, Julio Rodriguez power Mariners past Rays, 6-2

SEATTLE – The particulars of their conversations, well, Julio Rodriguez would prefer to keep those private.

But early results of Rodriguez’s budding relationship with Edgar Martinez were put on public display – in a big way – in the Mariners’ 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon.

Rodriguez, mired in a 1-for-27 skid, hit his first home run since July 20, and new outfield mates Victor Robles and Randy Arozarena also homered to power the Mariners to their second straight series win under new manager Dan Wilson.

The M’s (68-66) remain 3½ games back of Houston (71-62). After an off day Thursday, they begin a 10-game road trip Friday in Anaheim, California.

The Mariners also improved to an MLB-best 43-4 when scoring at least five runs.

“I feel like we’re right where we need to be,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like we have really, really good group that loves playing for each other.”

Robles broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with a two-out, two-run homer off Rays lefty Tyler Alexander, scoring Dylan Moore.

After J.P. Crawford walked, Rodriguez turned on an inside cutter from Alexander and sent it, fittingly, into Edgar’s Cantina beyond the left-field wall.

Rodriguez, who missed nearly three weeks with a sprained ankle, had waited a long time for his 12th homer of the season. It was no surprise that he would stand at home plate a little longer and admire it.

He then punctuated the blast with an emphatic bat flip in front of the Mariners dugout.

“It feels great just to be able to produce and hit some balls hard,” Rodriguez said. “And once you are working with something and then you see it play out in the game, it makes you feel really good, because it shows you that you’re on the right track.”

Wilson, in one of his first calls as a first-time manager last week, asked Martinez to join the coaching staff as interim hitting coach.

Martinez, the Mariners’ icon, has in turn made it a priority to get close with Rodriguez, the Mariners’ 23-year-old center fielder who has struggled to replicate the star-studded numbers from his first two big-league seasons.

“I think he’s trying really hard, like too hard sometimes,” Martinez said recently. “… I’d like to help him just focus on enjoying playing the game and just give the best effort and don’t think about anything else.”

Rodriguez came into Wednesday’s game hitting .180 in 50 at-bats in August, with no homers and three doubles.

Rodriguez, generally loathe to discuss specifics of his swing mechanics, didn’t offer details on his work with Martinez, but said the hall of fame designated hitter has been “really helpful” over the past week.

“He has so much experience as a hitter – obviously, one of the best to ever do it, a hall of famer and everything, and someone I respect a lot,” Rodriguez said. “He’s had a lot of good pointers, and I’m happy that I listened.”

In interviews, Wilson and Martinez have talked broadly about working with Mariners hitters more on a mental approach at the plate.

“He was patient (today), especially against the lefty when he hit the homer,” Wilson said of Rodriguez. “A couple of pitches just off the plate where he laid off and then got a pitch more middle/middle-in and was able to hit it down the left-field line.

“Like we talked about, he’s working on stuff, and he’s doing things in the cage, and as all guys are, and it’s great to see, and we’re beginning to see some of that on the field.”

Rodriguez is happy to be playing alongside Robles and Arozarena, too.

In just their second game together in the outfield, all three sluggers helped the Mariners win back-to-back series for the first time since mid-June.

With Crawford activated off the injured list before the game – and returning to his usual spot atop the lineup – Robles was pushed down the No. 9 spot. He seems to like it there.

Robles had two hits, and his fourth homer of the season was as significant as any swing he’s had since joining the Mariners in June.

Arozarena, meanwhile, had three hits Wednesday, and he manufactured the Mariners’ first run with aggressive base-running – reaching on a swinging bunt, advancing to second on a throwing error, tagging up and sliding into third on a fly ball to left field, and then scoring on a Luke Raley sacrifice fly.

Arozarena finished 5 for 11 with two homers in the three-game series against the club that traded him to Seattle a month ago.

“It’s fun,” Rodriguez said. “Victor and Randy, they’re both two characters. So it’s fun having them by my side, just kind of playing out there and contributing at the same time. … We all have a similar way of playing the game, just kind off relax and just have fun out there.”

Puyallup native Drew Rasmussen served as the Rays’ opener, his seventh appearance since returning earlier this month from his third major elbow surgery. He allowed one unearned run with two strikeouts in two innings.

Luis Castillo allowed two runs over 5.2 innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.

With two outs and two on in the sixth, Wilson called on Austin Voth to reliever Castillo. Voth got ex-Mariner Jose Caballero to pop out to end the threat, stranding both runners.

Voth threw a scoreless seventh, and Collin Snider nand Andres Muñoz were perfect in the eighth and ninth, respectively, to close out a winning homestand.

“This is a long, long season,” Rodriguez said. “You can’t expect to win every game, but there’s even positives in the way that you lose. I feel like if you’re competing really hard every single day, I feel like that’s going to show what type of team you are – like, OK, they can win one day, but at same time we’re gonna go right back at it and try to punch them in the face.”