It's a Raleigh rally as Big Dumper upends Rays with one swing

SEATTLE -- Mired in the worst rut of his MVP-caliber season, “Big Dumper” had sort of turned into a big slumper. But Cal Raleigh might have broken out of it in a huge way on Friday night.

The Mariners’ slugging catcher crushed his 43rd home run of the season, and it was among his most dramatic. He lifted a sweeper from leverage reliever Griffin Jax for a three-run, go-ahead homer with two outs in the eighth inning, sending Seattle to a 3-2 victory over the Rays at T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners are 7-1 since the Trade Deadline but remained 1 1/2 games behind Houston for first place in the American League West, after the Astros beat the Yankees in extra innings earlier.

“You really feel like you snuck that one,” Raleigh said.

Fittingly, “MVP” chants were echoing throughout a packed house in Seattle to begin the weekend festivities celebrating Ichiro Suzuki’s Hall of Fame induction and retirement of his No. 51, with a ticketed 39,780 on hand.

Raleigh extended his MLB lead in homers but also reached another benchmark in this historic season, as Friday’s also marked his 35th as a catcher. That’s the most by an AL catcher, matching Hall of Famer Ivan Rodríguez, who did it in 1999 while earning AL MVP that season with the Rangers.

“I am a human. I do hear them,” Raleigh said. “But, yeah, I'm trying to focus on the task at hand. ... That was a sweet, go-ahead homer and a big spot. Those are the games you look back at the end of the year and you're like, 'That was a big one.'”

Before Raleigh’s breakthrough, the Mariners had nothing going against the Rays and starter Drew Rasmussen. They had a combined four hits and had not reached scoring position until consecutive one-out knocks from J.P. Crawford and Cole Young flipped the lineup and set up Raleigh in the eighth, after Randy Arozarena popped up for the second out.

Raleigh then worked into a favorable 2-0 count after spitting on a first-pitch sweeper, then a changeup in the dirt. He had faced Jax seven times before in his career, when the righty was still with the Twins before the Trade Deadline. (The Mariners also had interest in Jax.). Among the 15 pitches that Raleigh has now seen from Jax this season, none have been heaters.

Yet ...

“I was thinking fastball, just trying to shift my sights a little bit because you want to be able to make a competitive offering at the offspeed,” Raleigh said. “So, still staying on the fastball, and then just adjusting from there. Like I said, he's a tough pitcher, and he throws upper nines, which makes it a little harder.”

Added Jax: “I’ve had a couple at-bats against him this year that have gone my way, so he’s seen me now three or four times. When I put myself in a hole 2-0, good hitters do that. I just put myself in a hole and I couldn’t dig myself out.”

Raleigh had been in a funk since his epic All-Star Week in Atlanta, where he won the Home Run Derby and was arguably the star of the entire festivities. He was 15-for-80 since before the fateful at-bat on Friday, for a slash line of .188/.244/.338 (.582 OPS), compared to .259/.377/.634 (1.011 OPS) in the first half.

He was even seen exhibiting some rare frustration earlier in the game, pursing his lips while walking back to the dugout after his third at-bat.

Yet the underlying numbers show that Raleigh has still been scorching the ball, with a 59.6% hard-hit rate (anything 95 mph or higher) since the break compared to 41.1% prior, when he hit more homers (38) before the Midsummer Classic than any hitter in history other than Barry Bonds (39 in 2001).

“Tonight is kind of a perfect example,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He finds barrels, but he's either just underneath it and popping it up or whatever. ... For him to be able to just stay locked in and pick up that kind of a home run right there, that’s a clutch at-bat. That's a clutch home run.”

Despite their success since the Deadline, the Mariners on Friday were without new first baseman Josh Naylor (who’s day to day with left shoulder soreness) and still seeking more production from Eugenio Suárez (who’s 3-for-31 since rejoining the Mariners).

Yet for the second straight day, they pulled a win out of their hat late, underscoring the momentum they’re building for this final stretch.