HOUSTON -- Cal Raleigh quite literally took a foul tip straight into the region that’s a catcher’s worst nightmare on Tuesday night, after taking a metaphorical kick in that area for more than two weeks.
Then, a few minutes later, he snapped a hitless streak that was approaching the most futile in franchise history.
For as brutal as it looked when Raleigh grimaced as he gathered himself after that seventh-inning shot straight off the bat of Christian Walker, maybe it was the jolt to get him going again.
Because one wouldn’t have known how much pain he was in a half-inning later, when sporting as wide of a smile as we’ve seen from him all season after a scorching single into the right-center gap.
It’s not often that an inconsequential hit in a runaway, 10-2 win takes center stage over countless other highlights the Mariners manufactured against the Astros.
But it’s been that kind of year for the reigning runner-up for AL MVP, who’s mostly been in a Big Slumper since Opening Day.
“Sometimes, you've just got to throw everything out the window,” Raleigh said, “and just go out there and say, 'Screw it,' and try to compete. ... Sometimes, you've got to put the numbers and the technique and mechanics aside and just go out there and grind it out.”
Raleigh’s knock snapped an 0-for-38 that dated back to an April 27 homer in Minnesota, and it was approaching the longest skid in franchise history. The unflattering high is 42 straight at-bats without a hit, by the man who coined Raleigh’s nickname that’s now mainstream -- Jarred Kelenic, who went 0-for-42 during his rookie season in 2021.
Tuesday’s moment was so momentous that Bryan Woo waved towels at Raleigh after he scored on an RBI double from Randy Arozarena, as if he was too hot to cool down. Josh Naylor even pretended to track the ball down for him, a keepsake to a career rut they hope he never experiences again.
Naylor revealed postgame that it was not the actual ball -- but rather, one that the first baseman grabbed from a nearby bag on the bench. Yet the effect was nonetheless the same, and Raleigh joked that he might even keep this one for the heck of it.
“Why not?” Raleigh said coyly.
Woo also revealed that Raleigh took a shower in full uniform after Monday’s win, after the catcher went 0-for-4, and at the nudging of Logan Gilbert.
“It might have been a good call,” Woo said, “and who knows, maybe that's the difference.”
And, as they say, when you’re hot you’re hot -- because Raleigh kept his rally going with another single in the eighth. He went from no hits in 15 days to his sixth multi-hit game of the season.
It’d be an imprudent stretch to call this a breakthrough; after all, Raleigh is still hitting just .166, which is the second-lowest among 175 qualified hitters. His .249 on-base percentage is 170th among that group, and his 55 strikeouts are tied for ninth-most in baseball.
He’s also been most susceptible to the game’s most prevalent pitch, the four-seam fastball, which he entered the day hitting just .093 against despite seeing it significantly more than any offering, at a 37.4% clip. The next most frequent are changeups, at 12.9%.
These struggles were partly why he was dropped from the No. 2 spot for the first time all season on Saturday, to cleanup, where he’s been since.
But he still does have seven homers that are tied for second-most on the team behind Luke Raley’s eight, and smacked over a 20-game stretch that led into this 0-fer.
“His at-bats have gotten considerably better here over the last couple days,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
There might’ve been a bigger takeaway, however, than the hit itself. Rather, it was the collective exhale it unleashed.
The Mariners (21-22) have been clawing to get above .500 since they were 3-2 on March 30. Inconsistencies have been well-chronicled across the board, and beyond Raleigh. This group is best when playing loose, and the big celebration -- over what most would consider a minor moment -- stood out.
“The thing about having such a close-knit team,” said Woo, who was roommates with Raleigh during the 2024 season, “is that you feel the weight of when other guys are going through it too. And you want to do everything you can to help them.
“But at the end of the day, not only is baseball really difficult, but it's just like the mental side of it too, where he's grinding through whatever, and you want to see guys succeed so badly.”