CHICAGO -- By the time Luke Raley stepped into the batter’s box in the seventh inning, he had already had the most productive game of his Major League career. But he was nowhere near close to being finished.
After he came around to step on home plate less than a minute later, Raley had a stat line that would be hard for anyone to beat for the rest of the 2026 season.
Raley not only hit a grand slam, but added on with a clutch three-run homer to power the Mariners to a 12-8 win over the White Sox on Friday night at Rate Field. His seven RBIs are the most by any big leaguer this season.
Raley’s career high before Friday? Three. He overtook that with one swing in the third.
His home run on Monday aided a comeback victory, but his multihomer effort Friday night was the first time since Nelson Cruz in 2016 that a Mariner hit both a grand slam and three-run blast in the same game. Raley, in a homer-heavy lineup that includes Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena, leads the club with eight long balls.
But he wasn’t the only one to join the power parade. Naylor hit a three-run blast in the eighth and Rodríguez hit a solo shot in the fifth to give Seattle the lead for good.
It was a rare night when all those runs were needed with Emerson Hancock on the mound. After a historic 14-strikeout outing in his last start, Hancock allowed a season-high five runs in the first three frames before settling in to get through six innings. It was the first time Hancock has allowed more than three runs this season, which is notable with rotation decisions to be made as Bryce Miller gets closer to returning from the injured list.
After handing the Braves their first series loss of the season, the Mariners are hoping this can be the start to a more consistent stretch. Seattle (19-20) hasn’t been above .500 since March 30, and has already had five instances of winning or losing streaks of at least three games. With Brendan Donovan back from the injured list, and Raleigh behind the plate again for the first time since missing three games from Saturday to Monday, this is starting to look like the Mariners team they had been waiting to see the past few weeks.
And Raley’s power at the bottom of the order can, obviously, change things in a hurry.