San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt made a request of the Seattle Mariners after a 4-1 loss Saturday night.
“If Cal Raleigh could miss a trip to play the Padres every now and again, that would be great,” Shildt said.
Raleigh certainly didn’t miss this one and doesn’t figure to be cooling his heels on the bench Sunday when Seattle tries for a series sweep in San Diego.
After cracking a two-run homer in the sixth inning of Friday night’s 5-1 victory, Raleigh gave his team the lead for good in the seventh inning Saturday night by drilling a first-pitch leadoff homer against reliever Adrian Morejon.
Raleigh is tied for second in the major leagues with 15 homers, one behind Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. What’s more, he’s making strides toward becoming a more well-rounded hitter. His average is .253, which would be his career-best by 21 points if the season ended now. And his walk-to-strikeout ratio is easily the best of his five-season career with 30 walks and 47 strikeouts.
But Raleigh’s new-found patience took a back seat when it came time to hit in the seventh.
“We tried to get him on his weak side but he just ambushed us,” Shildt said.
For his part, Raleigh was more interested in talking about a bullpen that turned in 4 1/3 scoreless innings to give the Mariners a series win. Gabe Speier got the win with 1 1/3 innings of work and Andres Munoz, who had two blown saves in his past three chances, was back in form with 1 1/3 perfect innings for his 14th save.
“Today was a little longer day but they’ve been doing a great job,” Raleigh said of the bullpen. “It starts with (Munoz); he’s still pitching awesome and keeping guys off the basepaths.”
So is starter Bryan Woo (4-1, 2.84 ERA), who gets the ball for Seattle on Sunday. He last worked on Tuesday night, stifling the New York Yankees on four hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings during his team’s 2-1, 11-inning win. He did not earn a decision.
Woo struck out six with no walks, giving him a 50-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio for the year. He’s faced San Diego once in his career, allowing just two hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings to pick up a 5-2 win last Sept. 11.
The Padres will counter with right-hander Michael King (4-1, 2.32), who’s coming off a no-decision Monday night in their 9-5 home loss to the Los Angeles Angels. King left with a 4-3 lead after allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) over 5 2/3 innings with two walks and eight strikeouts. But closer Robert Suarez coughed up five ninth-inning runs as the Angels rallied to win.
King has faced the Mariners on four occasions in his career, twice as a reliever, and is 0-2 with a 1.98 ERA, striking out 19 in 13 2/3 innings.
San Diego has generated plenty of chances to score in the series’ first two games but has gone hitless in 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position. It was 0-for-8 Saturday night, leaving the bases loaded in the fifth when the game was tied at 1, and left eight on base.
–Field Level Media
