Cal Raleigh caps big series for Seattle with major league-leading 31st homer

CHICAGO (AP) — There is no stopping Cal Raleigh at the moment.

Raleigh has a major league-leading 31 homers after he helped the Seattle Mariners take two of three against the Chicago Cubs over the weekend. The switch hitter went deep four times and drove in six runs in the series.

“Just trying to have good at-bats, really,” Raleigh said. “Trying to stay consistent. Really just trying to home in on my approach and not worry too much about what the pitcher is trying to do to me.”

Raleigh had two hits, walked twice and scored three runs in Seattle’s 14-6 victory on Sunday. He is batting .327 (37 for 113) with 16 homers and 34 RBIs in his last 29 games.

Raleigh was the designated hitter for the series finale after he was behind the plate on Saturday. He hammered the first pitch of his at-bat against Colin Rea — a 93.8 mph fastball — for a two-run shot in the first inning on a hot afternoon at Wrigley Field. The massive drive to center had an exit velocity of 105 mph.

He walked in the third and singled and scored in the fifth. After popping out softly for the final out of the sixth, he walked again in the eighth and scored on Randy Arozarena’s two-run double.

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“Thirty-one home runs, he just continues to march through history here,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “It’s fun to watch. … He’s a smart player, so later in the game, not getting too anxious, not trying to out of the zone, not trying to get away from his identity as a hitter and who he is. Just staying right where he needs to stay.”

The 28-year-old Raleigh, who agreed to a $105 million, six-year contract with Seattle in March, is the first switch hitter to hit at least 30 homers before the All-Star break. He needs four more homers to match Ken Griffey Jr. for the most before the break in Mariners history.

“I think a lot of people don’t watch to pitch to him, and then if you do and fall behind, he hits a lot of homers obviously,” Seattle pitcher Logan Gilbert said. “He can beat you in a lot of different ways, and it seems like he’s doing it every game, too.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB