Luke Raley Goes Viral For Impersonation of Julio Rodriguez After Awesome Catch
The Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros on Tuesday night, 4-2, to move to 30-26 on the season. And while most of the energy from pundits will be focused on the M's late-game rally, the defensive effort of outfielder Luke Raley should not be ignored.
Raley, acquired this offseason from Tampa Bay in a trade, robbed a home run off the bat from Jeremy Pena in the second inning.
In a game that was close and low-scoring, any run prevention is good run prevention, so this was an absolutely massive play. You can watch it below:
And after the play, Raley delivered a viral moment for Mariners' fans as he flashed up the "No fly zone" celebration at fellow outfielder Julio Rodriguez. The celebration is something that Rodriguez has popularized over the two years that he's been patrolling center field in Seattle.
Popular M's "X" user @MarinerMuse caught a screengrab of Raley's impression and it's just perfect:
The catch was Raley's biggest contribution of the night, as he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. Despite the tough night, he's still having a solid first year in Seattle, hitting .266 while belting four homers and bringing in 12.
The 29-year-old hit 19 homers last season for Tampa and was acquired in a trade this offseason for infielder Jose Caballero.
The Mariners will take on the Astros again on Wednesday night having already captured the first two games of this series. George Kirby will pitch for Seattle while Justin Verlander will get the ball for Houston.
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