Jays search for way to slow Mariners’ Cal Raleigh

The Toronto Blue Jays will face an old nemesis, catcher Cal Raleigh, when they host the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.

Raleigh has nine home runs and 16 RBIs with a 1.032 OPS (combination of on-base and slugging percentages) in 18 career regular-season games against the Blue Jays. He also was 4-for-8 with a homer, three RBIs and a walk in the two-game 2022 AL wild-card series, which the Mariners won in Toronto.

Raleigh has been on a homer-hitting spree lately and has eight for the season. He hit one in the ninth inning of a the Mariners’ 11-7, 10-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, the rubber match of a three-game series that opened Seattle’s nine-game road trip.

He also hit two on Wednesday and has six in the past six games. His second homer on Wednesday was his 100th in his five-year career, spanning 482 games. He is the second-fastest Mariner to reach the milestone, behind Alex Rodriguez (470 games).

“It’s special,” Raleigh said. “It’s kind of crazy to think about 100 home runs in general, much less in The Show. It’s a cool feat. Hopefully we can still be talking when we get to 200.”

Raleigh homered from both sides of the plate on Wednesday.

“He is a threat to go from either side, and when he does it in one game, it’s pretty phenomenal,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said.

After a slow start, the Mariners have won six of their past seven games.

Seattle is scheduled to start right-hander Bryan Woo (2-0, 2.84 ERA) on Friday, getting an extra day’s rest when the team called up Emerson Hancock to start the finale at Cincinnati. Woo lost his lone career start against the Blue Jays, in 2023, when he permitted four runs on four hits in six innings.

Toronto is scheduled to start right-hander Bowden Francis (1-2, 3.71 ERA) in the opener of a series that will complete a six-game homestand. He has never faced the Mariners.

The Blue Jays are coming off a 3-1 win on Wednesday in the rubber match of a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves. The game included 19 strikeouts by Blue Jays pitchers, a club record for a nine-inning game, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s first home run of the season.

“Hopefully that gets him going,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s been close. He’s been swinging the bat really well.”

The story of the early season for the Blue Jays has been the solid pitching and inconsistent hitting.

Starter Chris Bassitt recorded the first 10 strikeouts in his five innings against the flailing Braves on Wednesday. Four Toronto relievers took care of the rest, with Yimi Garcia fanning all four batters he faced in setting up closer Jeff Hoffman’s fourth save.

“Back end of our bullpen, I’ll take against anybody’s,” Bassitt said. “It’s something that I haven’t really experienced — no offense to anybody — since the Oakland days with (Blake) Treinen and (Lou) Trivino doing their thing. It’s pretty easy for us as starters. It’s a race to five innings, maybe six. And then it’s going to be really hard for us to lose a game.”

The Blue Jays optioned utility player Davis Schneider to Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday. He was hitting .067 (1-for-15) through 10 games.

The Mariners demoted right-handed reliever Gregory Santos to Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday and promoted right-hander Will Klein. Klein was returned to Tacoma when Hancock was promoted to start on Thursday. Hancock allowed two runs in five innings against the Reds.

–Field Level Media