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It was a night of celebration for the Seattle Mariners.
Star catcher Cal Raleigh hit his 59th and 60th home runs of the year as the Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies 9-2 to clinch the American League West title on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Park for the first time in 24 years.
Raleigh became the seventh player in MLB history to hit at least 60 home runs in a season.
The switch-hitting catcher’s first home run of the game came in the first inning, hitting from the left side of the plate. Raleigh pummeled Rockies pitcher Tanner Gordon’s 93-mph fastball 438 feet into the third deck for his 59th homer of the season to put the Mariners up 1-0.
“It was like a movie,” teammate Julio Rodríguez said of Raleigh’s first-inning moonshot. “I’m just so grateful that he’s on our team, that he’s able to do what he does. He’s so special, and I can’t say enough.”
Raleigh’s second blast, and 60th of the season, came in the eighth inning with the team up 8-1. The crowd was on its feet chanting MVP when Raleigh laced a 98-mph fastball off Rockies pitcher Angel Chivilli 389 feet into the right-field seats to make it 9-1.
Raleigh called hitting 60 home runs in a season “crazy.”
“It’s crazy. Sixty is — I don’t know what to say,” said Raleigh, who leads the majors in homers, after the game. “I didn’t know if I was going to hit 60 in my life. Just tonight, what a way to do it.”
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The only other players to reach 60 home runs in a season have been Babe Ruth (1927), Roger Maris (1961), Mark McGwire (1998 and 1999), Sammy Sosa (1998, 1999, 2001), Barry Bonds (2001) and Aaron Judge (2022).
It was the 11th multihomer game for Raleigh this year, tying him with Judge (2022), Hank Greenberg (1938) and Sosa (1998) for the MLB record.
With four games remaining in the regular season, Raleigh has a chance to pass Judge for the American League record. Judge hit 62 homers in 2022 to break the previous AL mark of 61 set by Maris in 1961.
Raleigh’s historic season has him in competition with Judge for the MVP award, but his manager, Dan Wilson, said there is “no question” who should win it.
“When you look at how he has done it and the position that he plays — I was telling somebody earlier today that when you come off the field, you’re mentally and physically exhausted,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, a former major league catcher.:
“And for him to do what he’s done offensively and to do what he does behind the plate, I honestly don’t think we’ve seen this before. It’s been incredible. I think he deserves the MVP, no question.”
After clinching the AL West for the first time since 2001, the Mariners (89-69) will look to sweep the Rockies (43-115) in the final game of their three-game series on Thursday at 9:40 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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