Cal Raleigh has seemingly provided the Seattle Mariners with the offensive spark they were looking for after a slow start to the month.
Raleigh has gone deep five times in the past four games, a power surge he will attempt to ride on Saturday when Seattle continues a four-game set with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
After averaging three runs through their first six games of July, the Mariners have averaged 6.5 in the four games since thanks in large part to Raleigh. The switch-hitting catcher is 8-for-17 (.471) with the five homers and 10 RBIs during that stretch.
“Raleigh’s on some kind of heater. It’s hard to hit home runs from both sides of the plate and do it a couple of times in three or four games,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said after Thursday’s 11-0 drubbing of Los Angeles. “He’s been phenomenal. He has that in him. When he gets hot, it gets rolling.”
Raleigh most recently went 2-for-4 with a two-run shot on Friday, but the Angels managed to pull out a 6-5 victory in 10 innings to even the series at a win apiece.
Willie Calhoun hit a pair of two-run home runs, including a walk-off blast in the 10th inning.
Still, Los Angeles failed to contain Raleigh, but it will have another chance to when it sends right-hander Jose Soriano (4-7, 3.87 ERA) to the mound on Saturday.
Soriano took a loss against the Chicago Cubs last Sunday, giving up three runs on six hits in five innings. He is 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA in two July starts.
In six career appearances (one start) against the Mariners, Soriano has never factored into a decision while recording a 4.15 ERA.
Seattle will counter with fellow right-hander George Kirby (7-6, 3.39), who had to settle for a no-decision against the Toronto Blue Jays last time out. Kirby did have a quality start, though, allowing three runs and six hits in six-plus innings.
Saturday marks Kirby’s seventh career start against the Angels. He is 3-3 with a 3.34 ERA versus Los Angeles.
The Angels are hoping that Calhoun’s heroics lead to some consistent success. Los Angeles had dropped four of its previous five games before mounting its late rally on Friday, and it hasn’t put together back-to-back victories since June 28-29.
“We were grinding during (batting practice), like no one was squaring the ball up,” Calhoun said of the Angels’ pregame routine on Friday. “We had the motto of ‘We’d rather (stink) during BP and smile during the game,’ so we think it worked pretty well.”
Meanwhile, a prolonged slump is the last thing the Mariners can afford right now. Seattle, the American League West leader, is just one game ahead of the Houston Astros in the division. It had a 10-game advantage in the AL West back on June 18 but has gone 8-13 since.
The Mariners are 4-1 against Los Angeles this season. The teams will meet seven more times this year following Saturday’s contest.
–Field Level Media
