He wants another.

"I'll tell you, I would trade the record for the ring. Obviously, my next step is to try to break the record, and after that, win the championship," Rodriguez said. "That's what I'm here for, and that's what I really want right now."

He may be pitching his final season for the Angels. He has said he wants to test the free agent market after this season, although both he and the Angels haven't ruled out a chance he will return.

Rodriguez replaced Scot Shields with runners on first and second and no outs. He got Ichiro Suzuki to ground into a double play, gave up an RBI single to Jeremy Reed and a single to Adrian Beltre before finally ending it on Raul Ibanez's broken-bat grounder to first.

Rodriguez ran toward the bag on Ibanez's grounder, but first baseman Kendry Morales was able to make the play himself. Rodriguez lifted both arms, jumped and did a joyful little spin.

Seattle's Brandon Morrow, a converted reliever who held the Angels to two runs in five innings in his second major league start, could only shake his head at Rodriguez's numbers.

"For us, J.J. (Putz) had an unbelievable year last year, and he had 40 saves. Now Rodriguez has got 57," Morrow said. "They have (89) wins and he has that many saves. Wow. That's something."

Although Rodriguez, who has developed a less violent delivery so he won't re-injure his feet on the landing, has not pitched as many 1-2-3 ninths as in the past, he seems to be able to still turn it on when necessary.

"He has made some more games more interesting," Morrow said. "But he knows when to turn up the intensity."

Seattle pitcher Jarrod Washburn, formerly with the Angels, also marveled at Rodriguez's accomplishment.

"How long has that record stood - 18 years? To even have that many opportunities just tells you how good that ballclub is. And for him to be able to close the door that many times, that tells you he's a talented guy and he always has been ever since he broke in with us in '02," Washburn said.

The 26-year-old Rodriguez has 203 saves and has blown six opportunities this year, one of those against the Mariners.