Cal Raleigh mashes 3 homers in Mariners rebound
Published 12:29 am Tuesday, August 25, 2026
SEATTLE — It turns out Cal Raleigh can still hit dingers.
The Mariners catcher, a 2025 MVP candidate whose 2026 season has largely been a disaster, hit three home runs in Monday’s 9-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at T-Mobile Park.
Nearly a year after becoming one of only four American League players with 60 home runs in a season, Raleigh entered Monday’s game threatening to be the worst qualified hitter in baseball this season by a wide margin. Though he’s a few at-bats short of being listed because he missed time earlier in the season with an oblique injury, his .159 batting average after Sunday’s 19-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs was well below the league-low .205 posted by Tampa Bay’s Cedric Mullins.
None of that mattered after Raleigh crushed three balls into the seats Monday. Though the results hadn’t fully arrived, the struggling catcher felt like he began seeing the ball better a week ago. The payoff showed up in a big way — three times — in the series opener against the Phillies.
“I think it all starts with a fastball,” said Raleigh, one of only 13 players in franchise history to hit three home runs in a game. “I think that’s been the hard part this year is just obviously missing some fastballs here and there, putting myself in bad counts.”
The 2025 Home Run Derby champ broke the game open in the first inning for the Mariners (63-69), hitting Zack Wheeler’s 95 mph fastball with an exit velocity of 109 mph over the right field wall. The two-run shot, delivered shortly after Julio Rodriguez’s three-run bomb, gave the M’s a 5-1 lead.
Wheeler stayed away from Raleigh in the third inning, throwing three straight balls before issuing a five-pitch walk. He tried to paint the corners against Raleigh in the fifth inning, putting two strikes on the edge of the zone along with two low pitches and a ball well outside. Wheeler, a three-time All-Star, made a mistake with the sixth pitch, and Raleigh capitalized.
The 89 mph cutter entered the middle of the strike zone, and exited at 102 mph before landing 397 feet away over the right-center wall for a 7-2 Seattle advantage.
“I’ve said it before, I don’t feel like I lose at-bats when I pop up or strike out,” Raleigh said. “I feel like it’s when you do get that mistake, and at this level in the big leagues when they do make that mistake, it’s about capitalizing on it and making sure that you are moving forward and you are taking advantage because they’re so good.”
It was a tough day for Wheeler (10-5), who departed in the fifth frame after failing to record an out. The right-hander allowed eight runs on nine hits, including four home runs, and five walks as the Phillies dropped to 73-59.
Raleigh delivered the third blow in the seventh inning against reliever Chase Shugart for the final run of the game. He finished the night 3-for-3 with a walk and four RBI. Cole Young also homered for Seattle, and Randy Arozarena walked three times. He scored on the home run by Rodriguez, who went 2-for-5.
“Cal doing what he does — that’s crazy,” said Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert, who allowed Philadelphia’s two runs during his five innings on the mound. “That’s a good sign. So hopefully he stays right there and gets rolling.”
Gilbert escaped trouble in the first inning after loading the bases with a walk to leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber and allowing singles to Bryce Harper and Luis Arraez. Alec Bohm’s RBI groundout drove in Philadelphia’s first run, and J.T. Realmuto’s solo shot off Gilbert in the second accounted for the other.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson — the only other catcher in M’s history with a three-homer game — enjoyed Raleigh’s fireworks, but it was his catcher’s work behind the plate that he appreciated the most.
“I told him I love the three homers, but the backhand pick that he made in the first inning there with the bases loaded to keep that ball in front of him — that’s a huge play,” Wilson said. “That was impressive.”
Raleigh’s outburst came a day after Seattle got destroyed 19-2 in the series finale against Chicago after winning two straight against the Cubs. The Mariners once again bounced back from an embarrassing loss, as they did following a 22-0 loss to Milwaukee on August 18.
With Raleigh hitting, and the Mariners rebounding, Wilson hopes his team continues to put together series wins as they attempt to reach the playoffs. Seattle remained three games behind Texas (66-66) in the AL West after Monday’s win. The Mariners also sat three games back in the wildcard standings — behind seven teams.
“Yeah, it’s the goldfish thing, right?” Wilson said. “You gotta forget about it quickly and move on. These guys have been able to do it, and I think we’ve been tested a little bit this last week with the one-sided games. Each time they’ve come out the next day, and I think really kind of gotten out on the board and ahead of the other club, and put up some runs early, which has been a key for us.”
