Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners broke the major league record for most home runs in a season by a primary catcher, going deep in each of his first two at-bats Sunday against the visiting Athletics.

Raleigh hit two-run blasts in each of the first two innings off left-hander Jacob Lopez, giving him an MLB-leading 49 this season and helping the Mariners handle the Athletics 11-4.

He broke the mark of 48 for a player who primarily plays catcher, set by Kansas City’s Salvador Perez in 2021.

“I’d say the hardest part is just trying to stay focused on the main goal, and that’s winning baseball games and helping this team get to where we need to get to,” Raleigh said after the game. “And obviously, doing this stuff has been awesome and amazing, but at the same time it’s more focusing on the other guys in that room, focusing on the pitchers, focusing on the team goals, rather than myself.”

Batting right-handed in the first inning, Raleigh blasted a fastball from Lopez 448 feet to left field for a two-run shot that scored Randy Arozarena, who’d led off the inning with a single. That gave Raleigh his 48th dinger of the year, matching the Royals stalwart’s mark.

In the second inning, Raleigh swatted a first-pitch changeup from Lopez over the fence in left-center. The blast, which also scored Arozarena, traveled 412 feet.

The record requires a player spend at least 75 percent of his games at catcher. Raleigh has been Seattle’s primary catcher since 2022.

Raleigh added a single in the eighth inning to finish the game 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

Raleigh, 28, is a first-time All-Star this year and won the Home Run Derby in July. The two home runs extended his career-best RBI total to 106, which leads the American League.

After Sunday, Raleigh will have another 31 games to add to the record. Perez had 48 home runs and 121 RBIs in the 2021 season, leading the majors in both categories, and won a Silver Slugger award that year.

–Field Level Media