WEST SACRAMENTO -- Cal Raleigh made the awkward stroll from the first-base dugout at Sutter Health Field to the visiting clubhouse beyond center field around the fourth inning on Tuesday night, meandering through the grass as the A’s outfielders played catch.
Even with his first scheduled off-day of 2025, the Mariners’ catcher knew there was a likelihood that he wouldn’t truly be off, and the only cages to get hot for a late at-bat are beyond the left-center wall at the ballpark that’s been primarily a Minor League yard until it became the A’s new home this season.
Sure enough, that preparation paid off in a huge way, as Raleigh indeed came off the bench in the ninth inning with the Mariners trailing, yanked a go-ahead, two-run single into right field and sent Seattle on its way to a 5-3 win that ensured that the club would retain sole possession of first place in the American League West.
“You just have to learn how to get yourself ready,” Raleigh said. “First of all, like getting your body hot, what you need to do, how you need to start preparing yourself mentally. It's kind of like just starting the game at a different point.
“I think most importantly, it's just mentally preparing and like not being surprised when your name's called.”
It was the first time that Raleigh pinch-hit this season, though it wasn’t unfamiliar territory.
The biggest at-bat of his career (at least so far) was also in a pinch-hit situation, also in the ninth inning and also against these A’s -- when he belted the Mariners into the 2022 postseason with a walk-off homer.
The stakes on Tuesday weren’t as grand, but they still underscored how much Raleigh thrives in these late-innings situations. For his career, Raleigh has four homers, three doubles and a .907 OPS in 47 pinch-hit plate appearances.
“I think it's something that's underrated,” Raleigh said. “And something that a lot of guys, when they first come up, they don't know how to do it because they never had to do it, just simply because you're always playing. … That was something I had to learn.”
Raleigh estimated that he was in the visiting cages -- along with the rest of the Mariners’ bench -- for nearly two innings before returning to the dugout and conferring with manager Dan Wilson about if and when he’d be used.
The Mariners were staked to a 2-2 tie, thanks to Emerson Hancock's third straight quality start, but also another sterling effort from the upstart A’s, who are right on Seattle’s tail in the AL West standings.
Wilson nearly deployed Raleigh in the seventh inning -- also in Mitch Garver’s spot and also with the bases loaded, but with two outs -- though he opted to hold off.
“At that point,” Wilson said, “we were still trying to give him the day. ... But in the ninth, it was a different story.”
The next time around, though, Wilson inserted Raleigh for Garver with just one out against reliever Tyler Ferguson, who was pitching for the fourth day in a row, and as such, had erratic command. He was the A’s first pitcher to throw in that many consecutive games since Dan Otero in 2015.
Ferguson surrendered a one-out walk to Jorge Polanco and a single to Julio Rodríguez, then hit Randy Arozarena before falling into a 3-0 count against Raleigh. The Mariners slugger watched a strike go by on the outside part of the plate, but when Ferguson went to the same spot again, this one further away, Raleigh got all of his torpedo barrel to pull it with authority.
“I thought I did a great job of getting in a good count,” Raleigh said. “I think that's the key. I laid off some tough pitches there -- a cutter in, changeup away -- which kind of set the whole at-bat up and put myself in a good position where I can look for heater and adjust for the offspeed. I think it all started with that. I think if I chase one of those two pitches, then it kind of completely changes.”
The Mariners have found multiple ways to win with regularity this season, largely on the shoulders of their offense. And Raleigh -- whether it’s his MLB-leading 12 homers or pinch-hit singles -- has been at the forefront of it all.