Cal Raleigh hit his MLB-leading 28th and 29th home runs of the season to help the visiting Seattle Mariners to a 9-4 win against the Chicago Cubs in the opener of their three-game series on Friday afternoon.
Raleigh, who passed Johnny Bench for the most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, also singled, walked and scored four times.
Mitch Garver also homered twice and drove in five runs, and Donovan Solano had three hits and an RBI for the Mariners, who have won five of seven.
Seattle starter George Kirby allowed four runs and seven hits over five innings. The right-hander struck out three and walked one.
Eduard Bazardo (2-0), Carlos Vargas, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Casey Legumina combined for four shutout innings of relief for Seattle.
Chicago starter Matthew Boyd allowed two runs and two hits in five innings, striking out six and walking two on 76 pitches.
Ian Happ and Reese McGuire homered. Michael Busch had three hits and two RBIs and Kyle Tucker had two hits, a walk and a run scored for the Cubs, who have lost two straight for just the second time since early May.
Boyd snagged a 105-mph comebacker to end the fifth and was relieved by Ryan Pressly to start the sixth.
Pressly retired the first two batters before Randy Arozarena doubled and Garver lifted a 3-1 fastball over the fence in left-center field to tie it 4-4.
Caleb Thielbar (2-2) took the mound to start the seventh for Chicago and he also retired the first two batters before surrendering a single to Julio Rodriguez followed by a two-run blast to left by Raleigh to move the Mariners in front 6-4.
Garver provided some cushion with a three-run homer to left-center in the ninth to make it 9-4.
Raleigh went deep with two outs in the first to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
Happ got the run back with a leadoff home run in the bottom half of the inning to tie it 1-1.
The inning continued with a single by Tucker and a double to center by Seiya Suzuki. Kirby retired the next two batters without any damage, but Busch came through with a two-run single for a 3-1 lead.
Boyd retired eight in a row following Raleigh’s homer but then walked Raleigh his second time up with one out in the fourth. Raleigh stole second and scored on a two-out single to center by Solano to cut the lead to 3-2.
McGuire lifted a solo home run to right-center field to lead off the fifth and make it 4-2.
–Field Level Media
