Cal Raleigh set the majors’ single-season home run mark for switch hitters with his 55th in the third inning, then matched Seattle’s club record with No. 56 an inning later as the visiting Mariners rolled to a 10th straight victory, 12-5 over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
Stealing some of the spotlight was Dominic Canzone, who went 5-for-5 with three home runs for Seattle.
Raleigh opened the Mariners’ four-run third with a drive off Kansas City’s Michael Wacha (9-12) just inside the right field foul pole that broke Mickey Mantle’s mark from 1961.
The Seattle slugger entered 0-for-12 against Wacha, who came off the seven-day concussion list to allow seven runs and nine hits over 2 2/3 innings. Wacha didn’t have a strikeout and didn’t walk a batter.
In the fourth, with a man on, Raleigh turned around to the right side and sent a pitch from left-hander Daniel Lynch IV over the center field fence to match Ken Griffey Jr.’s team record set in 1997 and equaled in ’98.
Raleigh also doubled and increased his career-best RBI total to 118 for AL West-leading Seattle (83-68), which has outscored its opponents 78-28 during a winning streak that is tied for the third longest in club history.
Meanwhile, Canzone, who entered with seven home runs this year, hit two solo shots and a two-run drive.
Logan Gilbert (5-6) kept the Royals in check and was charged with two runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings. He fanned five and walked one as the first-place Mariners maintained a half-game lead on the Houston Astros (83-69) in the American League West.
In his ninth major league game, local product Carter Jensen clubbed a solo homer for the Royals in the fourth, then followed with a two-run shot in the sixth for his first major league home runs. He also doubled, but Kansas City (75-76) took its seventh loss in nine games.
The Mariners wasted no time getting to Wacha, who hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch to open the game then allowed a double to Raleigh. Both scored on Julio Rodriguez’s double to left-center field.
Canzone’s drive well over the right field fence made it 3-0 in the second.
Following Raleigh’s record-breaking long ball in the third, Rodriguez singled and scored on a double by Josh Naylor, who came home on Eugenio Suarez’s 6-4-3 double play ball. Victor Robles’ two-out RBI triple increased the lead to 7-0 and ended Wacha’s night.
After Raleigh tied the team homer record, Canzone cleared the right-center-field wall for a 10-1 lead in the fifth. He capped his career night by going deep with a man on in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
