Mariners’ Cal Raleigh bids to continue power surge vs. Nationals

The Seattle Mariners will play their 54th game of the season when they play host to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night, putting them one-third of the way through their 2025 campaign.

And catcher Cal Raleigh most likely will make his 53rd appearance.

Granted, 11 of those have come as a designated hitter, but the American League West-leading Mariners just can’t afford to leave the “Big Dumper” out of the lineup.

Raleigh hit two home runs Tuesday, his 18th and 19th of the season, to not only lead the Mariners to a 9-1 victory against Washington but to surpass the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the league lead in that category. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani with 20 has hit more in the majors.

“I’m just trying to be as consistent as possible and do what I do well,” Raleigh said. “I’m always striving to be a more complete hitter. You never figure this game out. When you think you do, it’ll kick your butt.”

Raleigh is hitting .258 this season and is on pace for 57 homers and 111 RBIs, all of which would be career-high totals. Plus, he’s a Platinum Glove winner as the best defender in the league.

Mariners manager Dan Wilson, who caught 14 seasons in the majors, said he knows Raleigh’s going to need a break at some point.

“I think the idea is try to get him the DH days, which do help at least from the mental grind standpoint and a physical grind standpoint from getting away from behind the plate,” Wilson said. “But we just talked about it so much, just what he does, and calling the game what he does, and the physical demands. He seems like he gets three or four foul tips every single night back there. And then what he does offensively and to be able to do it as much as he does is remarkable.”

Julio Rodriguez also homered for the Mariners on Tuesday and rookie right-hander Logan Evans allowed one run on four hits over eight innings.

Evans was spotted in the outfield during batting practice over the weekend in Houston, listening intently to whatever Raleigh had to offer.

“Cal is like the leader of this team. I think a lot of people know that,” Evans told The Seattle Times. “He has the accolades and all the stuff to kind of back up on why he is, but I don’t think he uses that. I don’t think he goes around saying, like, ‘This is right because I’m a Platinum Glover.’ I think people just respect that about him and know that he shows up each and every day, working as hard as he can.”

The Nationals’ lone run off Evans came on James Wood’s 448-foot blast to straightaway center field in the fourth inning.

“We need to be aggressive on that first pitch … we fell behind and then we started chasing,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We hit a couple balls in the gap … but when he’s like that and he’s attacking like that, you got to go up there and be ready to hit.”

Wednesday’s matchup is set to feature a pair of right-handers in the Nationals’ Trevor Williams (2-5, 6.39 ERA) and the Mariners’ George Kirby (0-1, 12.27), who will be making just his second start of the season due to right shoulder inflammation.

Williams has a 4.00 ERA without a decision in two career starts versus Seattle.

Kirby is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two career meetings with Washington.

–Field Level Media