HOUSTON -- A single-season franchise record for home runs carries monumental significance. But a case could be made that it holds even more weight in Seattle, where for nearly three decades it’s been held by not only an inner-circle, first-ballot Hall of Famer, but arguably one of the greatest to ever play this game.
And now Ken Griffey Jr. has ceded his perch atop the Mariners’ all-time leaderboard, paving way for the latest -- and arguably the most significant -- act in Cal Raleigh's historic season.
Raleigh hit his 57th homer in Saturday's 6-4 win over the Astros, and if he wasn’t going to achieve the feat at home, everything within the context of how he did it was probably almost as sweet.
The opposing team. The opposing pitcher. The venue. The landing spot. The moment in the game. And the stakes of the season.
Raleigh jumped on an 0-2 sinker from Framber Valdez in the third inning that was slicing away from the plate at the top of the zone, sending it sailing 399 feet to the opposite field and into the home bullpen -- while silencing another sellout crowd in this colossal series that could very well determine the American League West.
Other than the “MVP” chants that echoed from the swath of Mariners fans who descended into enemy territory.
Seattle's win moved the Mariners two games ahead of the Astros in the AL West standings -- and it ensured that they would leave Houston with what could be an all-important tiebreaker against their rivals.