Big Dumper homers in 4th straight AB to continue surge
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On Tuesday night against the Phillies, Cal Raleigh picked up right where he left off.
After going deep in each of his three official at-bats on Monday (around a third-inning walk), the Mariners' catcher smacked a solo shot in his first at-bat during Seattle's 4-1 win over the Phils.
That's now five home runs on the team's six-game homestand, which ends today, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m. PT. Raleigh has at least one hit in each of his past five games, which matches his hit total through his first 16 games (and 48 at-bats) this month.
This latest clout marked Raleigh's fourth consecutive at-bat with a home run. He was the first player to achieve that since Eugenio Suárez during his four-homer game for the D-backs on April 26 of last season. Raleigh is the first Mariner to homer in four consecutive at-bats since Mike Cameron had his four-HR night against the White Sox on May 2, 2002.
During his mini five-game heater, Raleigh has a .438/.550/1.375 slash line over 20 plate appearances. He has struck out only twice during this stretch and has four walks, including two on Tuesday.
As you might imagine, Raleigh's batted-ball numbers over the past few days have been ridiculous. His average exit velocity is 96.2 mph, a nearly 7-mph increase from his season average (89.5 mph). Nine of the 14 pitches he's put into play have been hard-hit balls, and five of those have been barrels.
It's also encouraging that four of Raleigh's past five home runs have come on fastballs -- four-seamers, sinkers and cutters. Prior to Friday, Raleigh had a total of five home runs to go along with a .134 average and a .229 slugging percentage through 218 plate appearances ending on fastballs in 2026.
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It's no coincidence that the Mariners are 4-1 while Raleigh has been launching pitches on this homestand. At 64-69, they are 2 1/2 games behind the Astros in the AL West and three games out of the final Wild Card spot.
Perhaps last year's AL MVP runner-up is snapping out of his year-long funk at the plate just in time for the regular-season stretch run.