CHICAGO -- Cal Raleigh cannot be stopped.
The Mariners’ catcher crushed another massive home run in Sunday afternoon’s 14-6 win at Wrigley Field, ambushing the first pitch he saw and sending it 414 feet to straightaway center field for a two-run blast in the top of the first inning.
His 31st of the season came less than 24 hours after making more home-run history -- and after catching the entirety of a three-hour, nine-minute marathon in extreme heat -- as Raleigh served as Seattle’s designated hitter in the finale and was batting left-handed against Cubs righty starter Colin Rea.
“Really just trying to barrel the ball up, trying not to miss that pitch,” Raleigh said. “It's a tough league.”
Much has justifiably been made about Raleigh reaching historical milestones as a primary catcher and that he switch-hits. But Raleigh is moving closer to all-time territory, regardless of each skill set.
The record for most homers before the All-Star break is 39 set by Barry Bonds in 2001, and Raleigh will have 20 games to reach that mark after Sunday. Bonds, of course, set the home run record that season with 73. Raleigh is now on pace for 66.
The previous home-run record was 70 set by Mark McGwire in 1998 in that epic back-and-forth season in which he went toe-to-toe with Sammy Sosa, who finished with 66, as both surpassed the previous record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961. On June 22 of that ’98 season -- the same date as Sunday -- McGwire had 33 and Sosa had 30.
The Mariners’ record for most homers before the Midsummer Classic was set that same year, as Ken Griffey Jr. had 35 by the break.
“I think a lot of people don't want to pitch to him,” said Mariners starter and good friend Logan Gilbert, “and then if you do and fall behind, it's a lot of homers, obviously. So it's kind of that he can beat you in a lot of different ways. And it seems like he's doing it in every game too.”
Sunday’s homer was Raleigh’s fourth of the weekend series, with two apiece from the right and left side. It was also his fifth in his past five games, which extended his MLB lead over second-place Aaron Judge (27), the reigning AL MVP and with whom he’s in a heat for this year’s honor.
Raleigh now has 21 homers from the left side -- which on their own would be among the league’s most, as that amount trails only Judge, Shohei Ohtani (25), Eugenio Suárez (25) and Kyle Schwarber (23) -- along with another 10 batting righty.
Raleigh also reached base three more times on Sunday without clearing the fence, ripping a 96.2 mph single in the fifth and walking twice -- the second of which loaded the bases in the eighth and positioned rookie Cole Young and Randy Arozarena to break the game open with consecutive knocks that plated three more.
Raleigh wound up scoring eight times this weekend, which tied an MLB record for the most runs scored by a catcher during a three-game series, joining Charlie Moore (1982 with the Brewers) and Gary Carter ('85 for the Mets).
Beyond the power, Raleigh has also seen a massive spike in batting average (from .220 last year to .276 in 2025) and on-base percentage (.312 to .383), underscoring the totality of him being an even more complete hitter.
“He knows what's going to happen when he's going well,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He took advantage of that first [at-bat], got a pitch, drove it out of the ballpark -- 31 home runs. He just continues to march through history here. It's fun to watch.
“He's a smart player. So later in the game, not getting too anxious, not trying to go out of the zone, not trying to get away from his identity as a hitter and who he is. Just staying right, right where he needs to stay, and getting on base and passing the baton.”