Cal Raleigh's 418-Foot Bomb Wasn't Enough as Mariners Manage Just 1 Run in Texas Loss

Cal Raleigh finally got his first homer of the season on Monday night in Arlington, and it was a beauty. A 12-pitch battle with Jacob deGrom that ended with a baseball traveling into the right field seats at 108 mph exit velocity, traveling 418 feet. On a 99 mph fastball. Against the Rangers' ace. It should have been the spark that unlocked an offense that has been painfully inconsistent early on. Instead, it was the only run the Mariners would score in a 2-1 loss that dropped them to 4-7 on the season.

One Hit, One Run, One Disappointing Night

Two hits. That's all Seattle managed Monday evening. Two. And one of those was Raleigh's solo shot. The rest of the offense? Silent. After Raleigh's homer in the first, the Mariners went 19 consecutive plate appearances without recording a hit. They had just five hitters reach base over the final eight innings, and nobody advanced past first base. The park played cavernous with the roof open at Globe Life Field, and frankly, the Mariners looked lost at the plate.

Manager Dan Wilson didn't make excuses. "Tonight, we weren't able to get much traffic going either," he said. Julio Rodriguez reached on a throwing error by third baseman Josh Jung in the fourth but never budged off first. Luke Raley worked a one-out walk in the second only to get thrown out trying to steal second. Even Raleigh's two-out walk in the sixth against reliever Jalen Beeks led nowhere.

Raleigh Fighting, But Numbers Don't Lie Yet

That 12-pitch at-bat against deGrom showed grit. Down 0-2 immediately, Raleigh refused to give in, fouling off fastball after fastball until he got his pitch and drove it 418 feet. "I was just trying to fight," he said afterward. "Obviously, I fell in the hole 0-2, and I was just trying to put bat on ball there, trying to fight and not punch out."

But the early numbers are rough. In his first 11 games, Raleigh is hitting .146 with two doubles, that one homer, five RBI, six walks, and 20 strikeouts. He knows it. "I feel like I'm getting there," he said. "It's not what anybody else wants to hear. Unfortunately, this is not the start I envisioned."

The whole team feels that way. A 4-7 start isn't what anybody in Seattle envisioned either. The Mariners have now lost three straight and five of their last six. The offense needs to wake up, and quick.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.