The Seattle Mariners received a shipment of this season’s biggest fad, the “torpedo” bats, and some players tried them for the first time in batting practice Friday.
“It’s a little funky,” Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh said before the game. “But we’ll see. Need a little more time.”
Eight innings later, it was time to “bring on da’ funk.”
Raleigh switched bats during the game and hit a record-setting, two-run homer to break a tie in the eighth inning and give the Mariners a 5-3 victory against the visiting Texas Rangers.
The American League West rivals are scheduled to continue their three-game series Saturday night.
“You know how baseball players are not very patient,” Raleigh said afterward about his change of equipment. “It felt good. The swing felt good.”
Raleigh’s blast off the facade of the second deck in right field off Chris Martin was the 96th of his career, surpassing Mike Zunino for the franchise record for a catcher.
“Congrats to Cal on another achievement. Just going to be one of many to come,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, who ranks third on the list with 88.
“I know there were a couple guys swinging (torpedo bats). Some guys feel good with it, some guys don’t. But that was a big hit right there.”
Jorge Polanco and Rowdy Tellez added solo shots with conventional bats as the Mariners won consecutive games for the first time this season after their 7-6 victory against visiting Houston on Wednesday — a game Seattle trailed by five runs after seven innings.
“After Wednesday’s win, it was good to come back and continue the energy,” Wilson said.
The Mariners have won three of their past four games while division-leading Texas has lost three of four, allowing Seattle to cut its deficit from six to three games.
“The long ball got us, too many mistakes in the middle of the plate and they took advantage of it,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “They’re a good team, they battled and you got to give them credit.”
The Rangers’ Josh Jung, who returned from the injured list (neck spasms) earlier in the week, went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, tying the score with a two-run homer, his first of the season, in the sixth.
The Saturday pitching matchup is set to feature a pair of right-handers in Texas’ Kumar Rocker (0-1, 7.88 ERA) against Seattle’s Bryan Woo (1-0, 3.75).
Rocker, who is still looking for his first major-league victory, made his debut last Sept. 12 at Seattle. He gave up one run on three hits over four innings, with two walks and seven strikeouts, while facing a strict pitch count.
Rocker went five innings for the first time Sunday against visiting Tampa Bay but didn’t get a decision in a game the Rangers eventually won 4-3. He gave up one run in six innings.
Rocker, the third overall draft pick in 2022, is 0-3 with a 5.49 ERA in five career MLB starts.
“Hopefully he goes out there with the mentality that he’s going to get these guys out and make pitches,” Bochy said.
–Field Level Media
