Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh reacts after hitting a solo home run off Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 2, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh follows through while hitting a grand slam against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 2, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh gestures while running the bases after hitting grand slam off Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 2, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Seattle Mariners pitcher Troy Taylor, left, and catcher Cal Raleigh react after defeating the Texas Rangers 13-1 during a baseball game Friday, May 2, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Cal Raleigh’s 2 homers gave him majors’ best 12, then he had to pay the price
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) 鈥 Cal Raleigh hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the Seattle Mariners鈥 13-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday that gave him the major league lead with 12 homers.
Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh reacts after hitting a solo home run off Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 2, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) 鈥 Cal Raleigh hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the Seattle Mariners鈥 13-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday that gave him the major league lead with 12 homers.
So being hit by a pitch to send a message in his final plate appearance might have been anticipated.
Except the pitch that plunked him in the backside was a 63-mph slider tossed by Rangers reserve catcher Tucker Barnhart, mopping up the final two innings in a game that got away early.
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鈥淚 think I鈥檒l live after that one,鈥 Raleigh said.
Raleigh hit a first-pitch blast deep down the right-field line leading off the fourth inning to open the scoring. An inning later, with the bases loaded and one out 鈥 after falling behind 0-2 鈥 he yanked out a 2-2 curve below the strike zone with a one-hand swing that brought in four runs.
鈥淲hen you get to two strikes, you have to have a good approach,鈥 Raleigh said. 鈥淪tay within myself. Just trying to get my knock.鈥
Knock he did, for a 5-0 lead with Texas held to one single to that point.
鈥淭hat was a huge spot for him to do that and give us a little bit of breathing room there,鈥 Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. 鈥淕ot a breaking ball down. That鈥檚 what makes him so dangerous. He continues to find the barrel, and they鈥檙e going out of the ballpark.鈥
鈥淓verybody knows what kind of power he has at this point,鈥 winning pitcher Bryan Woo said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 just everything all together. It鈥檚 the bat. It鈥檚 the leadership. It鈥檚 the humility. It鈥檚 what he means to the guys in the clubhouse. It鈥檚 what he means to the fans in Seattle. I don鈥檛 want to keep hyping him up so much. His ego鈥檚 going to blow up.
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