Cal Raleigh had no trouble with the slurve.
After the Cincinnati Reds intentionally walked the bases loaded to get to Raleigh, last year’s home-run champ slammed a first-pitch breaking ball from former batterymate Caleb Ferguson 408 feet off the out-of-town scoreboard in left-center field in the seventh inning, powering the Seattle Mariners to an 8-0 victory Monday night.
The three-game interleague series continues Tuesday in Seattle when Reds phenom Chase Burns takes the mound against Mariners veteran Luis Castillo, who started his career in Cincinnati.
On Monday, George Kirby pitched six scoreless innings and Victor Robles went 4-for-4 and scored twice for the Mariners, who moved above .500 and a half-game past Texas and into first place in the American League West.
The big blow was Raleigh’s slam.
Asked if he was surprised the Reds loaded the bases to face him, Raleigh said, “Ah, yeah.”
What made the move all the more surprising was that Reds manager Terry Francona seemingly brought in Ferguson for a left-versus-left matchup with Dominic Canzone before signaling for the free pass. The Mariners had already scored twice in the inning to take a 3-0 lead.
“It’s not a comfortable situation either way,” Francona said. “Saying that, I’d do that every time. We have to try to keep them from scoring more. Second and third, guy with a .990 OPS against lefties, we have to play the infield in. I know what Raleigh’s hitting and he still worries me. But I thought that was our best chance to have them not score. We could play the infield double-play depth. And the worst possible outcome happened.”
Raleigh, who set MLB records for most homers by a catcher and a switch-hitter when he went deep 60 times last season, hasn’t come close to repeating that output.
After a truncated spring while playing in the World Baseball Classic, Raleigh suffered an right oblique injury in mid-May that sent him to the injured list for the first time in his career and cost him more than a month. He entered Monday’s game hitting .163 with nine homers and 29 RBIs.
“It felt good, right?” Raleigh said. “Anytime you get the job done, it’s big. You feel good about yourself, not just because you got it done, but you’re helping the team out. You’re seeing the smiles and the energy in the dugout and the crowd going crazy – it brings back good memories like last year in the playoffs, and that’s where ultimately where we want to get to.”
The Mariners won despite center fielder Julio Rodríguez leaving after five innings after getting hit in the left hamstring by a throw from Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz while legging out a run-scoring infield single.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson said taking out Rodriguez was precautionary and that infielder J.P. Crawford was a late scratch because of a sore wrist.
The Mariners might have inadvertently eliminated one of their potential targets before the Aug. 3 trade deadline when reliever Nick Davila hit Reds infielder/outfielder Spencer Steer in the ribs with a pitch in the seventh inning. Steer played right field in the bottom of the inning before being replaced.
“I knew he was hurting but when he tried to swing, it was really bothering him,” Francona said. “So he’s in there getting X-rays now, they don’t see anything which is encouraging … the doctors are still looking at him.”
Tuesday’s pitching matchup will feature a pair of right-handers in Burns (11-1, 2.54 ERA) against Castillo (3-8, 4.93).
Burns, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft out of Wake Forest, has won 10 straight decisions since his only loss, April 10 against the Los Angeles Angels. He has won his past two starts, including an 11-5 decision against visiting Philadelphia on July 8 when he allowed three runs on three hits over five innings. That outing was cut short as he issued six bases on balls with two strikeouts. This will be Burns’ first time facing the Mariners.
Castillo suffered a 7-2 loss at Tampa Bay in his last start July 10. He gave up four runs on nine hits over five innings, with one walk and four strikeouts. Castillo, who pitched for the Reds from 2017-22, is 0-1 with a 12.46 ERA in one career start against them.
-Field Level Media
