Mariners' Cal Raleigh delivers yet another big blow to Blue Jays in ALCS opener

TORONTO — Before Game 1 of the ALCS, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider said his team had to be aware of where Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh was at all times. 

Well, at the end of the game Sunday night, Raleigh was dancing on the Rogers Centre infield with a bunch of his teammates, and up 1-0 in this best-of-seven series. 

It was the Mariners backstop — author of an MLB-leading 60 home runs in the regular season — who also keyed up his team’s offence in this opening win on the road, and effectively ended what was, until the sixth inning, a fantastic outing by Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman.   

In the top of the sixth with two out and his team trailing 1-0, Raleigh strode to the plate and blasted a 420-feet moon shot into the right-field bleachers. It not only tied the game up, it also kick-started the Mariners’ offence in a two-run inning and en route to an eventual 3-1 win. 

“He’s hit a few of them this year, and it’s oftentimes a spark for our offence and for our team,” said Mariners starter Bryce Miller. Sunday was, indeed, one of those times.

Raleigh is a noted Blue Jays tormentor, and at Rogers Centre he now has an incredible nine home runs in 14 games. But after Game 1, wearing a Mariners-issued T-shirt that said “JOB’S NOT FINISHED” across the front, the 28-year-old said he has the same plan every time he’s up to bat, and chalked all the success in Toronto up to “coincidence.”  

“I don’t know if it’s one thing,” Raleigh said, pointing out his game plan is consistent everywhere he plays. “To me, just trying to go out there and execute, and we know that every pitch is important this time of year. I think everybody has got that little extra fuel coming here and anywhere really in the playoffs. It’s just that much more fun.” 

Raleigh pointed out the “really good fanbase” and “hostile environment” in Toronto. He was booed every time he was up to bat, and he also made the 44,474 fans in the sold-out crowd as quiet as they were all night when he got a hold of a Gausman splitter so well that there was no doubt it was headed over the wall the moment he made contact.  

“I was just trying to get bat on ball and really put something in play, maybe find a hole, and didn't want to punch out again,” said Raleigh, who struck out in his second at-bat, which the crowd loved. “I was able to put good wood on it. He's a really tough pitcher.”

The backstop, who’s famously known as “Big Dumper” (for literal reasons), is a candidate to win the American League MVP. He paced the league in homers, and led the Mariners with 125 RBI and 97 walks. 

Raleigh opened with a single in the first inning, but was later thrown out at home plate. The time he reached home successfully led to Gausman exiting the game after facing the next batter, Julio Rodriguez, whom he walked. Gausman pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs in the Game 1 loss. 

For the Mariners, playing on just a day of rest after a 15-inning win over Detroit to punch their ticket here, it all started with Raleigh. 

“Coming with two outs I think was big, and just kind of getting out there and hooking that ball,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “We've seen Cal do that so often in a big situation there to get us back tied, I thought that was a big lift in terms of our dugout and getting us back in it.”

Schneider said following Game 1 that “every time he comes to the plate,” he’s considering walking Raleigh, given how dangerous he is. Back in 2023, Schneider (now famously) said Toronto didn’t need to worry about Raleigh if they executed their pitches, which of course came up before Sunday's game, when Schneider cleared up that they did need to be aware of Raleigh, and said he didn’t want his previous comments to be a narrative during this series. 

It sure doesn’t need to be, but the ALCS is just a game old, and Raleigh has made himself a major narrative already.