Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh Joins Hall of Famer in Baseball History with Big Blast
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh joined Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk in some amazing baseball history on Friday night.
Even though the Mariners lost a crucial game to the Los Angeles Angels, Raleigh went 2-for-4 with a home run, his fifth in the last four games. He had two RBI and a run scored. The home run was his 20th of the year, which is where the history comes into play.
Per @MarinersPR:
Cal Raleigh is the 2nd catcher in @MLB history to tally 20+ HR and 5+ SB before the All-Star Break, joining Carlton Fisk in 1985 (23 HR, 9 SB).
The stolen base is a new element to Raleigh's game this year as he's been able to use it sparingly. The recent hot streak has Raleigh's average up to .218 now. In addition to the 20 homers, he has a team-high 61 RBI. He has an OPS of .746.
He's on pace to break his career-high of 30 home runs, which he set a season ago.
If the Mariners are going to make the playoffs and work to do damage in those playoffs, they are going to need Raleigh to continue to be the big-time performer that he's been his entire career. In addition to him, they'll need Julio Rodriguez to get hot as well. Rodriguez went 3-for-4 in the loss on Friday with his 10th home run of the season.
The Mariners are now 52-44 on the year and will take on the Angels again on Saturday night with first pitch at 6:38 p.m. PT.
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