At his introductory news conference during spring training in 2022, Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki was asked about his choice of No. 27 for the back of his jersey.
Suzuki, who until that point had been using an interpreter, pulled the microphone closer to him and said, "Mike Trout ... I love you."
Suzuki did his best impression of the three-time American League MVP on Saturday night, hitting a go-ahead solo homer in the third inning as the Cubs posted a 4-1 win over the host Seattle Mariners.
The teams will play the rubber match of their three-game interleague series on Sunday afternoon.
Trout, the Los Angeles Angels star, has terrorized the AL West-rival Mariners throughout this career. In 92 games at T-Mobile Park, he has 33 homers and 80 RBIs -- his most at an opposing ballpark in both categories.
With the score tied in the top of the third on Saturday, Suzuki came to the plate with two outs and pulled a first-pitch slider on the inside corner from Mariners starter Emerson Hancock into the Cubs' bullpen in left field.
It was a swing that looked eerily similar to that of Trout.
Suzuki's admiration for the Angels' star apparently goes back to early in his career in Japan, when veteran teammate Hiroki Kuroda, a former Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees pitcher, showed him film of Trout and suggested he was the type of five-tool player Suzuki could model his game after.
"In order for me to not lose my motivation, I just kept on trying to get on Mike Trout's level, and that's why I'm here right now," Suzuki said that spring. "That's why I'm a good player. I'm just trying to get better every day. I haven't reached his level yet."
Michael Busch and Miguel Amaya also hit solo homers as the Cubs snapped a two-game skid and Seattle's two-game winning streak.
"Normally you don't lose a game when you only give up solo home runs, but they hit three of them, and that proved the difference," Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
That was because Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga allowed just one unearned run over 5 1/3 innings.
"I thought it was good stuff. I thought he pitched well," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. "It's a little different than the first (start). He held the ball on the ground a little bit today, which we haven't seen at all, really. But he threw the ball well. I thought that (catcher Amaya) did a nice job continuing to change looks and give hitters different looks."
The series finale is scheduled to feature a pair of right-handers in the Cubs' Javier Assad (1-0, 1.64 ERA) against the Mariners' Luis Castillo (0-3, 6.89).
Assad, who will face the Mariners for the first time, has pitched well in his two starts this season. He picked up a 12-2 victory on April 2 against visiting Colorado, throwing six scoreless innings. On Monday at San Diego, he left with a six-run lead after five innings in a game the Cubs lost 9-8.
Castillo, who is 7-5 with a 3.64 ERA in 17 career starts against the Cubs, has allowed four earned runs in each of his first three starts of the season, uncharacteristically failing to pitch more than 5 2/3 innings in any of them.
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