HOUSTON -- The Mariners showed no mercy from the get-go on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
While seizing a statement-caliber sweep of the Astros with a 7-3 win at Daikin Park, Seattle sent 11 men to the plate in the second inning and crushed two massive homers -- a grand slam from J.P. Crawford followed by the 58th of the season from Cal Raleigh, a two-run shot.
Raleigh, who passed Ken Griffey Jr. (1997, 1998) for the most single-season homers in franchise history on Saturday, is now five shy of breaking the American League record of 62, set in 2022 by Aaron Judge -- the player with whom he’s in a head-to-head heat for AL MVP in ‘25.
Perhaps poetically, Crawford and Raleigh are two of the Mariners’ clubhouse leaders who’ve been through the thick and thin of this rivalry, which has included many gut-punch losses in this building.
And beyond the resounding command they’ve taken of first place in the AL West, Seattle also sunk Houston to outside the playoff picture altogether, as the Astros are now the first team on the outside looking in for the final AL Wild Card spot.
“I've definitely had a bunch of bad memories here from years previous,” Crawford said. “So it's really bittersweet to have this series and end it like this with a sweep."
The Mariners (87-69), who entered the weekend tied with Houston atop the division, have since created a first-place cushion that essentially amounts to four games because they also secured the season tiebreaker. Doing so dwindled the mathematics of what would be their first division title since 2001 down to any combination of wins and Houston losses equaling three.
That means Seattle could win the AL West as soon as Wednesday -- in front of their home fans -- with two wins over the Rockies (who have MLB’s worst record) and one Astros loss in their first two games at the A’s. Both teams are off on Monday.
Having won 14 of their past 15 games, the Mariners also extended their lead on the AL’s No. 2 seed to two games (plus a tiebreaker) over the Tigers, who’ve lost nine of their past 10. Any combination of Seattle wins and Detroit losses equaling four over their final six games would net the Mariners the No. 2 seed, which would come with a bye into the AL Division Series and home-field advantage.
“I'm glad the schedule lined up where it was us against them, because it's like, may the best team win,” said Logan Gilbert, who twirled six innings of one-run ball. “It's not like you have to hope from other teams to do something special. I think if we win the West, if we are whatever seed in AL, I want us to prove that, and I feel like we kind of did this weekend.”
Crawford ambushed a 1-2 sweeper from Astros starter Jason Alexander and sent a sky-high, 365-foot shot into the right-field bleachers for his 12th homer of the season and sixth slam of his career. And of all the sluggers in Seattle’s red-hot lineup right now, there’s arguably no one that the club wanted up in that spot more than its shortstop in the No. 9 spot, who has an 1.112 OPS and 81 RBIs with the bases loaded since joining the Mariners in 2019.
“I'm grateful,” said Crawford, the Mariners’ longest-tenured player. “I’m glad that all these young guys look up to me, and I take pride in it every day. I was taught by some really good vets when I came over here and I just want to be like them.”
That set up Raleigh, who stepped to the plate -- after Randy Arozarena ripped a one-out single to snap an 0-for-21 on this road trip -- and lasered an 0-1 changeup into the tunnel just beyond the right-field foul pole. It was the same pitch that Raleigh struck out on in his first at-bat, illustrating a midgame adjustment. Raleigh now has 36 homers from the left side and 22 from the right -- including Saturday’s franchise record-breaker.
“Honestly, you couldn't ask for a better three-game set,” Raleigh said. “Obviously, there's a lot on the line, and I give credit to the guys here in this clubhouse. They never flinched.”
The Mariners then chased Alexander -- who entered Sunday undefeated in his past nine starts -- with an up-the-middle single from Julio Rodríguez.
In that fateful frame, the Mariners tallied seven hits and one walk, and the irony of it all was that the seven-spot started with small ball.
Slugger Josh Naylor laid a bunt down the third-base line when noticing that Houston was shaded in a shift, Jorge Polanco beat out an infield single that second baseman Jose Altuve couldn’t get to in time, then Eugenio Suárez scorched a 108.6 mph opposite-field single to load the bases.
Dominic Canzone lined one off third baseman Carlos Correa’s glove that he stayed with for a forceout to the plate. But Victor Robles -- on the heels of his game-sealing heroics the night prior -- put the Mariners on the board with a bases-loaded walk, setting the stage for Crawford’s dam-bursting slam.