TORONTO – Before Game 1 of the ALCS, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider said his team needs to know where Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh has always been there.
Well, at the end of Sunday night's game, Raleigh was dancing in the Rogers Center infield with a group of his teammates and leading 1-0 in the best-of-seven series.
It was the Mariners' home run hitter – who hit MLB's top 60 home runs in the regular season – who also powered his team's offense in that first road win and effectively capped what had been a fantastic performance by Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman until the sixth inning.
In the top of the sixth with two outs and his team trailing 1–0, Raleigh stepped up to the plate and hit a 420-foot moonsault into the right field bleachers. Not only did it tie the game, but it started the Mariners' offense in a two-run inning and on its way to an eventual 3-1 victory.
“He's hit some homers this year and that's often the spark for our offense and for our team,” Mariners starter Bryce Miller said. Sunday was indeed one of those occasions.
Raleigh is a notorious tormentor for the Blue Jays, and he now has an incredible nine home runs in 14 games at Rogers Center. But after the first game, wearing a Mariners-issued T-shirt with the words “JOB NOT COMPLETE” on the front, the 28-year-old said he has the same plan every time he's ready to play and chalked up all the success in Toronto to “coincidence.”
“I don’t know if that’s the only thing,” Raleigh said, noting his game plan is the same wherever he plays. “For me, it's just trying to come out and play, and we know at this time of year every pitch matters. I think everyone has a little extra fuel coming here and anywhere in the playoffs. It's just a lot more fun.”
Raleigh noted the “really good fan base” and the “hostile environment” in Toronto. He was booed every time he prepared to fight, and he silenced the 44,474 fans in the sold-out crowd, as they had all night, when he got his hands on Gausman's splitter so well that there was no doubt he went over the wall the moment he made contact.
“I was just trying to hit the ball with the bat and really put something into play, maybe find a hole, and didn’t want to hit again,” said Raleigh, who struck out in his second at-bat to please the crowd. “I was able to put some good wood on him. He's a really strong pitcher.”
The defender known as “The Big Dump Truck” (for literal reasons) is an American League MVP candidate. He led the league in homers and led the Mariners with 125 RBIs and 97 walks.
Raleigh led off with a single in the first inning but was later thrown out at home plate. When he successfully reached home, Gausman retired after facing the next batter he walked, Julio Rodriguez. Gausman pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs in the Game 1 loss.
For the Mariners, playing just a day off after defeating Detroit in 15 innings to get their ticket here, it all started in Raleigh.
“I thought it was great to come out with two outs and just hook the ball,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “We've seen Cal do that so often in a big situation to tie us back up, I thought that was a big lift in terms of our dugout and getting us back into it.”
Schneider said after the first game that “every time he comes to the plate” he considers walking Raleigh given how dangerous he is. Back in 2023, Schneider (now famous) said Toronto didn't have to worry about Raleigh if they followed through on their proposals. which of course happened before Sunday's gamewhen Schneider clarified that they really needed to know about Raleigh and said he didn't want his previous comments to be the narrative for the episode.
It's certainly not necessary, but the ALCS is just an old game and Raleigh has already become the main storyteller.
