Cal Raleigh, Mariners look to take advantage of slumping Twins

It’s not common for a baseball player to hear MVP chants in June.

Then again, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is not having a common season.

Raleigh will bring his power show to Minneapolis on Monday night when the Mariners open a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins. He hit his league-leading 31st homer on Sunday in a 14-6 win over the host Chicago Cubs.

After the game, visiting Mariners fans shouted “MVP” so loudly from the Wrigley Field stands that it interrupted Raleigh’s postgame TV interview.

“I don’t know about that,” Raleigh said with a smile as fans chanted. “But it does sound nice.”

Raleigh, who is hitting .276 with 66 RBIs in 75 games, has proven to be the Mariners’ top threat at the plate. He is not the only threat, however, on a team that includes hitters such as Julio Rodriguez, J.P. Crawford and Randy Arozarena.

A pair of former Twins players also are doing damage in Seattle’s lineup. That includes veteran second baseman Jorge Polanco and first baseman Donovan Solano, who homered twice on Sunday.

The Twins hope that they can rise to the challenge after a miserable weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers, who swept them in three games. Minnesota has lost nine of its last 10 games.

“We’ve got to do a better job of slowing the other team down,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I’m going to try to make some adjustments. Our pitchers are going to make some adjustments. Our defense can do a better job, too.”

Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo (6-4, 3.12 ERA) is set to make his 15th start of the season. Woo will go for back-to-back victories after limiting the Boston Red Sox to one hit in seven scoreless innings in his most recent outing Tuesday.

In two career starts against Minnesota, Woo is 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA. He has given up 10 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits in 10 innings.

The Twins expect to counter with right-hander Bailey Ober (4-4, 4.54), who is scheduled to make his 16th start. He is looking for his first win since May 3 against the Red Sox.

Ober hopes to bounce back after losing his past three starts in a row. During that span, he has given up 16 earned runs on 20 hits in 17 1/3 innings for an 8.31 ERA. He has allowed seven home runs during that stretch, and he has walked seven to go along with 12 strikeouts.

This will be Ober’s seventh career start against the Mariners. In his first six matchups, he is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA, and he has 35 strikeouts in 30 innings.

Despite his recent struggles, Ober said he felt confidence heading into Monday. He gave up four runs in his first three innings against the Cincinnati Reds in his most recent outing Wednesday but he settled down in his final 2 2/3 innings and started to find a rhythm.

“I felt good,” Ober said. “Hopefully, it carries into the next outing.”

–Field Level Media