Mariners roll into the break with sweep of MLB's best team

DETROIT -- The Mariners have had a lot thrown at them this season, from injuries, to extra innings, to -- no joke -- a fire alarm going off at the team hotel at 4:30 a.m. local time on Sunday.

To emerge with one victory at Comerica Park this weekend would’ve been fine. A series win would have been icing on the cake. But Seattle had one last chance to make the first half memorable, and using a five-homer game to sweep the team with MLB’s best record seemed the best way to stamp a 51-45 start.

But a simple 8-4 win over the Tigers wasn’t quite enough fanfare. The Mariners took a lead -- and then lost it -- in the seventh, and tied the game in the eighth before Jorge Polanco sealed it for Seattle with a solo homer during a four-run ninth.

“These guys, I marvel at the way they can find a way,” manager Dan Wilson said. “And they do it time and time again.”

Everyone pitched in a little along the way. Logan Gilbert allowed two unearned runs in his 5 1/3 innings, struck out nine and walked just two. Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena, Mitch Garver, Polanco and Cole Young hit home runs. The defense was strong, led by Rodríguez’s outfield assist in the third. The bullpen stumbled early but held tight when it mattered most.

It added up to a textbook win for a team whose first-half battles rarely let up but still managed to finish in second place in the American League West and six games above .500.

Perhaps the one thing the first-half finale didn’t have was a homer from Cal Raleigh, who came up to bat in the ninth for a fifth time but was intentionally walked. He did, however, manage to set another record by stealing second base in the top of the ninth inning.

In doing so, Raleigh became the only player in MLB history to amass 38 home runs and 10 or more stolen bases before the All-Star break.

The Mariners slugger lit off his fireworks at the plate early in the series, mashing home runs No. 37 and 38 during Seattle’s 12-3 win on Friday. The latter was a grand slam, and it set the AL record for the most home runs before the All-Star break, eclipsing Chris Davis' 37 in 2013.

Raleigh’s first homer on Friday came against his good friend and former Florida State University teammate, Tigers reliever Tyler Holton, who couldn’t help but give credit where it was due.

“I texted him [after the game] and asked if he needed a guy to throw him BP at the Home Run Derby,” Holton quipped.

“... I was like, 'It's fun to watch you swing and hit homers. I just don't want to see it from 60 feet away anymore.' He laughed."

Holton evened the score on Sunday, coaxing Raleigh into a harmless flyout in the sixth inning after Raleigh torched back-to-back offerings 110.1 and 111.9 mph off the bat but foul.

All this, of course, has only added to the hype surrounding Raleigh’s appearance in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on Monday. While Raleigh has picked the brains of teammates like Arozarena for tips, he’s also got a comfort boost, as his father, Todd, and younger brother, Todd Jr., will be his pitcher and catcher, respectively, during the competition.

Arozarena knows what it takes to compete in the Derby: He advanced to the final round in 2023 against Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before falling just short of the title, 25-23. Raleigh has run at least one practice round at T-Mobile Park with Todd to work on timing, but he also has the benefit of having called his shot 20 years ago.

Raleigh’s receipts come in the form of a home video with a Little Dumper in a purple jersey, dancing with a bat and rapping his made-up tune, “I’m the Home Run Derby champ.”

“He already won,” Arozarena said in Spanish. “I saw the video [from] when he was eight years old, imagining himself in the Major League Home Run Derby. … He can predict the future.”