CHICAGO — Randy Arozarena won’t join the Mariners until Saturday, bringing with him a power bat that is expected to be a middle-of-the-order force following Thursday’s blockbuster trade with the Rays. But for at least one night, and for a team that badly needs impact offense, it didn’t show.

Seattle’s makeshift lineup, without everyday players Julio Rodríguez and J.P. Crawford, put together one of the team’s most dominant efforts of the season in a runaway, 10-0 victory over the White Sox in Friday’s series opener.

Baseball, after all, can sometimes have a flair for the ironic.

The Mariners put up an eight-spot in the first inning alone off Chicago starter Drew Thorpe, then turned things over to George Kirby, who cruised through seven shutout innings. Kirby has now twirled nine straight quality starts, over which he’s carried an MLB-best 1.73 ERA.

Each of Seattle’s runs in the opening frame was with two outs, and spearheaded by back-to-back-to-back homers from Josh Rojas, Dylan Moore and Victor Robles.

Some statistical superlatives of the big inning:

• It marked the first time that the Mariners have gone deep three times in a row since June 21, 2022, when Rodríguez, Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suárez pulled off the hat trick in Oakland.
• It was the first time in team history that they’d gone back-to-back-to-back in the first inning.
• It was the first time that Seattle had put up that many runs in the first inning overall since July 30, 2003.

Then in the fourth, Jorge Polanco crushed a projected 421-foot, two-run blast to blow the lid off even further.

As for Arozarena, he’s widely known to bring charisma, flair and good vibes — beyond his overall production. But perhaps those intangibles arrived in the Mariners’ clubhouse one day before he did.

“He’s an electric player,” said Mariners outfielder Luke Raley, who played with Arozarena in Tampa Bay from 2022-23. “He’s really loved by his teammates and fans, and he’s going to be a fun addition for sure. He’s the low heart-beat kind of guy. He’s just made for the big moment. Late in the game, you need a big hit, you want Randy at the plate.”

Raley said he received a call from Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto during Monday’s off-day in Chicago seeking consultation on his former teammate. At first, though, Raley’s heart stopped when he saw Dipoto’s name on the phone screen — because he thought he was being traded for the fifth time in his young career.

“He just kind of sat back and listened,” Raley said of Dipoto, “and I kind of gave him a three-, four-minute spiel about my thoughts and the things that [Arozarena] does. You try to explain it, but it’s really hard — because until you see it, you don’t fully understand it. But he just is like a bright star.”

Raley, who is earning just over the league minimum salary ($754,200), has objectively been the Mariners’ best offseason acquisition in a winter where Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander aggressively reimagined their offense — which also included much costlier pieces, such as Mitch Garver ($12.5 million), Jorge Polanco ($10.5 million) and Mitch Haniger ($20 million).

Yet even Raley hasn’t been immune to Seattle’s team-wide struggles of late, entering Friday with a .171 batting average and a .577 OPS since the club had its largest lead atop the American League West, at 10 games entering June 19.

Even back then, it was clear that Seattle would need impactful offensive reinforcements ahead of next Tuesday’s Trade Deadline. But amid the Mariners’ spiral in the standings, Arozarena represents much more than just a bat — he could also bring a clubhouse jolt. Players recognize that the front office is aggressively adding to make a postseason push, but that it ultimately falls on them to make it materialize.