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Tag: Cal Raleigh

  • Ohtani is unanimous MVP for 4th time in winning NL honor as Judge edges Raleigh for 3rd AL accolade

    Shohei Ohtani likes winning Most Valuable Player awards. He loves winning the World Series even more.

    The two-way Japanese star did both for a second season in a row for the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning his fourth career MVP on Thursday night while unanimously earning the National League honor. He’s just the second to win four MVPs after Barry Bonds with seven and the only player to win unanimously more than once.

    Considering Ohtani is 31, overtaking Bonds doesn’t seem out of the question. Especially if it leads to more Fall Classic opportunities.

    “If I’m playing well as an individual that means I’m helping the team win, so in that sense, hopefully I can end up with a couple more MVPs,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But at the end of the day, it’s all about winning games.”

    In the American League, Aaron Judge became the New York Yankees’ fourth three-time winner, edging Seattle’s Cal Raleigh with 17 first-place votes to 13 for the switch-hitting catcher. The vote was the closest for an MVP since the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout topped Houston’s Alex Bregman by 17-13 in 2019.

    Judge, who won the AL award in 2022 and 2024, joined Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle as three-time MVPs with the Yankees. The 33-year-old outfielder led the majors with a .331 batting average and 1.144 OPS while hitting 53 homers.

    When asked about his place in MLB and Yankees lore, Judge acknowledged he’s in rare company.

    “It’s tough for me to wrap my head around,” Judge said. “It’s mind blowing from my side of things, because I play this game to win, I play this game for my teammates, my family, all the fans in New York.”

    Later he added: “You’ve got to pinch yourself every single day. It’s truly an incredible honor.”

    Ohtani won a MVP for the third straight year, his second in the NL with the Dodgers after two in the AL with the Angels. He became the first to win in each league twice after getting the AL honor in 2021 and 2023. Ohtani signed with the crosstown Dodgers the following offseason and won NL MVP in 2024 during his first season in Chavez Ravine. He’s also won the World Series in both his seasons with the Dodgers.

    Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber finished second in the NL with 23 second-place votes and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto was third with four.

    Ohtani hit .282 and led the NL with a 1.014 OPS. He also had 55 homers, 102 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

    The right-hander returned to pitching in June after missing 1 1/2 seasons on the mound because of an elbow injury. He struck out 62 batters over 47 innings, slowly increasing his workload while preparing for the postseason.

    Ohtani continued to shine in October with arguably the greatest single game in MLB history. He hit three homers while striking out 10 over six dominant innings on Oct. 17, leading the Dodgers over Milwaukee to finish an NL Championship Series sweep.

    Schwarber, who earned a $50,000 bonus for finishing second, hit an NL-best 56 homers and led the big leagues with 132 RBIs for Philadelphia.

    Soto overcame a slow start to the season to have his typically stellar offensive output. The four-time All-Star — who signed a $765 million, 15-year deal last December — had 43 homers, 105 RBIs and an NL-best 38 stolen bases. He received a $150,000 bonus for finishing third in the MVP voting.

    Judge is the first AL player to win back-to-back MVPs since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera it in 2012 and 2013.

    Raleigh, nicknamed “Big Dumper,” led the big leagues with 60 homers, the most for a player primarily a catcher. He started 119 games behind the plate and another 38 at designated hitter.

    The 28-year-old also had a career-high 125 RBIs, leading the Mariners to one of their best seasons in franchise history. Judge said he got to know Raleigh a little during the All-Star break and the catcher asked for some leadership tips.

    “Cal’s a special player,” Judge said. “I could sit here and talk all night about the player he is, but really the kind of leader and person he is really stuck out to me at the All-Star Game.”

    Cleveland’s José Ramírez finished third in the AL.

    Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo was fourth in the NL voting, earning him $2.5 million annual salary increases in 2028 and 2029 along with the price of Arizona’s 2030 club option.

    ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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  • George Springer’s epic home run helps send the Toronto Blue Jays to the World Series with ALCS Game 7 win over Seattle

    (CNN) — The Toronto Blue Jays are headed to their first World Series since 1993 after a dramatic 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

    Things were looking bleak for the Blue Jays until designated hitter George Springer delivered a huge three-run home run in the seventh inning as Toronto surged into the lead.

    Springer’s late-inning heroics set up a compelling World Series match-up pitting the American League’s best team against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

    The Mariners opened the must-win game with an exciting first inning that featured a little bit of everything. Julio Rodriguez opened the game with a lead-off double down the left field line to set the table for Seattle.

    Seattle’s MVP candidate, Cal Raleigh, then struck out swinging at a high fastball, but Josh Naylor picked up his teammate with a single to drive in Rodriguez with the game’s first run.

    Controversy followed when Jorge Polanco hit a groundball to Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement, who was shaded toward shortstop. Clement took the ball to second base himself and whipped the ball towards first base for a would-be inning-ending double play.

    But Clement’s throw ricocheted wildly off the helmet of baserunner Naylor, allowing Polanco to reach first base safely. Replays showed Naylor turn his back toward the oncoming throw and leap into the air as the ball caromed off the crown of his helmet.

    After a huddle in the infield, the six-man umpiring crew determined that Naylor had deliberately obstructed Clement’s throw and called Polanco out at first to end the inning.

    The Blue Jays carried that momentum into the bottom of the first inning and tied the game 1-1 on a soft groundball single from Daulton Varsho.

    After a scoreless second inning, Rodriguez led off the third inning with a solo home run off Shane Bieber to put the Mariners back in front 2-1. The blast was Rodriguez’s third of the series.

    Raleigh, who led MLB with 60 home runs during the regular season, smacked his fifth long ball of the playoffs, his fourth against the Jays, to extend the M’s lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning.

    The mood was getting very nervous in Toronto’s Rogers Centre as the game reached the seventh inning stretch with the home team trailing and time running out on the Blue Jays’ season.

    But a walk and a softly hit single set the stage for Blue Jays’ lead-off hitter Springer, the 2017 World Series MVP with the Houston Astros.

    Facing Eduardo Bazardo, fresh into the game from the bullpen, Springer cranked a three-run homer to catapult the Blue Jays into the lead for the first time in the game at 4-3. The crowd at the Rogers Centre erupted as Springer rounded the bases as the unforgettable moment played out.

    Toronto’s George Springer celebrates his three run home run in the seventh inning of ALCS Game 7. Credit: Mark Blinch / Getty Images via CNN Newsource

    Toronto then turned to its bullpen to close the game out,

    Chris Bassitt pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth, striking out all three Mariners batters he faced to end the game and send the Canadian crowd into ecstasy.

    After the victory, Springer was asked about what he would remember about his dramatic moment. A modest Springer replied, “The at-bats before me. If it’s not for those guys, that moment doesn’t happen.

    “I’m so happy for our team, our fans, our city, our country. I am so happy right now,” he told Fox Sports while the joyous crowd cheered.

    Springer was forced to leave Game 5 of the series after getting hit in the knee by a pitch and appeared to be in discomfort in Games 6 and 7. When asked about the pain, he doubled down on his love for Toronto. “I owe it to these fans, this city, this country to give it my all. It doesn’t matter. So, I’ll take it,” he said.

    Toronto superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named ALCS MVP after batting .385 and crushing three home runs in the series.

    The Blue Jays will host the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

    As for the crestfallen Mariners, they remain the only franchise in Major League Baseball yet to appear in a World Series.

    This story has been updated with additional information.

    Kevin Dotson and CNN

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  • Rockies cement status as second-worst National League team ever behind 1962 Mets

    If the 1962 Mets were amazin’, the 2025 Rockies are truly remarkable.

    Colorado now stands side-by-side in modern National League history with the ’62 Amazin’ Mets, who hold the Senior Circuit record with 120 losses. With a 6-2 defeat to the Mariners on Thursday at T-Mobile Park, the Rockies now have 116 losses in this exasperating season, joining the ’62 Mets as the worst NL teams since 1901.

    Thursday’s loss passed the Rockies by the 1935 Boston Braves on the modern NL ineptitude list, as those Braves that featured Babe Ruth in his final season finished with 115 defeats. At least the modern loss record, 121 losses by the 2024 White Sox, is out of reach for Colorado.

    Seattle, which used its three-game series against the Rockies to first clinch a playoff berth on Tuesday and then the American League West title on Wednesday, polished off the sweep on Thursday on a night where Colorado was never in contention.

    Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said the streak Seattle is on en route to its first postseason appearance in three years, and just its second since 2001, is something the Rockies want to eventually emulate. The Mariners have won 17 of their last 18 games.

    “That’s a really good team: They’re well-balanced, they’ve got speed, they’ve got a ton of power,” Schaeffer told reporters in Seattle. “They play in ballpark which is extremely loud. It’s a definite home field advantage and they play to it and you can tell.

    “They’ve got a good thing going on right now, and we need to look at that and tell ourselves, ‘This is where we want to be.’”

    The Mariners took a 2-0 lead in the second via Eugenio Suárez’s homer off Bradley Blalock. Seattle added on in the fourth off Blalock with a fielder’s choice RBI by Dominic Canzone and then a two-RBI single by Randy Arozarena. Suárez then added insurance in the fifth off Anthony Molina with an RBI single to make it 6-0.

    Colorado finally got on the board with Ezequiel Tovar’s RBI single in the sixth off Carlos Vargas. But that was all the scoring the Rockies could muster until garbage time, when Hunter Goodman’s two-out, RBI single in the ninth made it 6-2.

    Of note, Cal Raleigh — hitting in the DH spot on Thursday — was 0 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout. The slugging, switch-hitting catcher blasted his MLB-leading 59th and 60th homers of the season on Wednesday, and now has three games remaining to try to match or surpass Aaron Judge’s AL home run record of 62. Raleigh will attempt to set the record against the NL West champion Dodgers.

    With the four-run defeat on Thursday, Colorado’s run differential is now minus-416. With one three-game series in San Francisco remaining this weekend, the Rockies have all but cemented the modern record for the worst run differential, previously held by the 1932 Boston Red Sox at minus-349. No team has had a minus-400 run differential at any point in a season.

    Friday’s pitching matchup

    Rockies RHP German Marquez (3-15, 6.49 ERA) at Giants RHP Trevor McDonald (0-0, 3.38)

    8:15 p.m. Friday, Oracle Park

    TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

    Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM

    Trending: With one more loss, the Rockies will officially become the second-worst team in modern National League history (since 1901). With four games remaining, Colorado’s 115 losses entering Thursday’s series finale in Seattle are tied with the 1935 Boston Braves (38-115), and five losses away from the NL’s all-time low, the 1962 New York Mets (40-120-1).

    Pitching probables

    Saturday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (5-16, 5.00) at Giants RHP Justin Verlander (3-11, 3.88), 2:05 p.m.

    Sunday: Rockies RHP McCade Brown (0-4, 7.54) at Giants RHP Logan Webb (14-11, 3.30), 1:05 p.m.

    — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post

    Originally Published:

    Kyle Newman

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  • Astros Swept by the Mariners: Three Winners, Three Losers

    This Astros team has always felt like it had a tenuous grasp on its playoff aspirations. Loaded with pitching depth and re-loaded on offense, entering 2025 felt like both a new start and a transition at the same time. Now, with just six games left in the season, the transition seems closer than ever.

    On Sunday night, the first place Seattle Mariners completed a sweep of the Astros at Daikin Park to all but clinch the AL West and put the Astros (currently) out of the postseason. After a three-game sweep of the Rangers, the teams entered this series tied. So much for that.

    As of writing this, the Astros are on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs, and these three losses weren’t even close, making the fade at the end of this crazy year seem even more apparent. We might normally do FOUR winners and losers, but we felt three, given the sweep, seemed appropriate.

    WINNERS

    Cal Raleigh

    Not only does the “Big Dumper” have one of the best nicknames in sports history, he’s now tied with Ken Griffey, Jr. for the most homers in a season by a Mariner. Big D hit a pair of dingers in the series against Astros pitching. He has been remarkable all year and that didn’t end at Daikin.

    Zach Cole

    A few weeks ago, you would have been hard pressed to find an Astros fan who had a clue who this young outfielder is. But, since his joining the team, he has been an absolute offensive spark plug. Granted, a spark is about all this Astros team can produce offensively, but, hey, it’s something.

    Mariners Fans Revenge

    It feels like there is no fan base that hates the Astros more than Seattle. The Dodgers might come close, but the number of times the Astros have broken the M’s has got to be absolutely debilitating to that fan base. This year, not so much. They are flinging fish around that market in Seattle with a particular glee this weekend.

    LOSERS

    Astros Starting Pitching

    In 12 innings pitched, the Astros starters Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Jason Alexander gave up 14 runs. Relievers gave up three. In fairness, 12 of those 14 runs game off Valdez and Alexander, not Brown, who still can’t seem to get any run support from this teammates. Valdez has continued to sputter his way to free agency and Alexander had his first awful start as an Astro. Too bad it was in this series.

    Houston Run Scoring

    Being outscored by 10 in a three-game series is bad, but when you consider that four of the Astros seven runs scored came on a grand slam by Jeremy Peña in game two, yikes. The home team put runs on the board in exactly four of the 27 innings they played in this series. It has been a rough year for the offense, but this was an absolute faceplant in the most important series of the year.

    Fans with an Early Monday Morning

    Instead of a day game, ESPN bumped the series finale to Sunday Night Baseball. For the fans in attendance, they were treated to a 7-run second by the Mariners and it was basically downhill from there. With Monday just hours away from the end of the game, the fact that fans had to wait it out until 9:30 p.m. instead of 4:30 p.m. is just brutal.

    Jeff Balke

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  • Three Down, Three To Go: Astros Face Mariners in Race for Division Crown

    Every year it seems remarkable that despite every team playing 162 game, inevitably, there are at least one or two division races that come down to the final week of the season. That is the case for the Astros and Mariners who play their last regular season series at Daikin Park this weekend.

    After a sweep of the Rangers, the Astros all but sealed the fate of their Texas rivals, no only winning the Silver Boot, but likely pushing Arlington Dallas Texas out of the division race and possibly the postseason.

    This week lined up to be the most pivotal of the season and the Astros did what they needed to against the Rangers. Now, Seattle comes to town having just lost their first game after nine in a row, tied with the home team they are about to play in their home building, while sporting the best home run hitter in baseball — possibly the AL MVP. It’s going to be a barn burner.

    Here are some things to watch.

    Pitching vs. Pitching

    The Astros, despite the unrelenting injury issues, are still one of the best pitching squads in baseball. They lead the majors in strikeouts and are top five in WHIP and top 10 in team ERA. Seattle is among the better team pitching staffs in the American League. With the day off on Thursday, the Astros lineup their three best pitchers for the series: Hunter Brown (an AL Cy Young contender), Framber Valdez, and Jason Alexander. The Astros will most certainly see Bryan Woo and could see Logan Gilbert on Sunday, but will miss Luis Castillo who pitched Thursday in Kansas City.

    Astros Run Production

    The Mariners are 10th in baseball in runs while the Astros are 21st. In the last 10 games, the Astros have improved, but Seattle has been the best in the entire league. Finding ways to get runners across the plate has been a struggle for Houston all season. It won’t get any easier against the Mariners pitching. With games likely to be close and decided by small mistakes, the key will be how well the Astros hit with runners in scoring position, something they have steadily improved on throughout the year.

    click to enlarge

    Rookie Zach Cole burst onto the scene this week in Yordan Alvarez’s absence.

    Jack Gorman

    The Long Ball Difference

    Seattle is third in baseball in home runs. When you have two players with 30-plus homers (one with 56), it is no shock that you are near the top in that stat. The Astros have two with more than 20 and a couple more who will probably get to 20 by the end of the season, but they aren’t in the class of the Mariners who have seven double-digit home run hitters. Both teams are susceptible to giving up the long ball, however, and in the confines of Daikin Park, that can mean a lot.

    Will Isaac Paredes return?

    When Yordan Alvarez sprained his ankle (even though the team got some decent news on that front Wednesday), rookie Zach Cole vaulted his way into Astros rookie lore with some dynamic swings at the plate. But another boost might come from Paredes who it was assumed would miss the rest of the season with a bad hamstring injury. Instead, he is likely to be back in the lineup at DH for a team that sorely needs his run production and, maybe more importantly, his ability to draw long plate appearances against opposing pitching.

    Jeff Balke

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  • Cal Raleigh hits 50th homer, joining Mickey Mantle as switch-hitters to reach mark

    Cal Raleigh hits 50th homer, joining Mickey Mantle as switch-hitters to reach mark

    So this is not the bat that the Yankees were using to pound out 36 runs in 3 games. This is not *** torpedo bat. This is like *** traditional bat. Yeah, if that’s the bat they were using, we wouldn’t be talking about. Oh there you go. What is going on here with this? I, so basically the Yankees have apparently over for 2 years have been working on this, and they have figured out. That all the all the rules say *** bat needs to be is it can’t be bigger than *** certain length it can’t be fatter than *** certain, but otherwise, as long as it’s ***. Straight stick that the fattest part fits within these measurements and they’re hitting it out they they move the barrel basically down and they’re taking guys like Anthony Volpe where they collect so much data now, right? They know where Anthony Volpe typically hits right and if he’s not consistently hitting it on the barrel. Their solution was let’s not teach Anthony Volpe to hit different. Let’s just move the barrel. So they basically so simple bats that are customized to these hitters and to where they’re making contact. It’s, I mean, it’s very unusual and when they come out of the gate like this with *** 20 run game where, you know, like 9 homers in the game, it’s gonna get *** whole lot of attention, but by the rules this seems to be allowed. It’s just wild to see *** team do it and come out like this, right? And it’s the Yankees. Oh, it’s the Yankees, Chad. So, um, so there’s gonna be *** tension there anyway, but it’s, it’s fascinating. And I mean, who, you know, is this something that’s gonna catch on? We’re, I think everybody 2 my other teams my outlet included are all trying to chase this going where, where is this going, you know.

    Cal Raleigh hits 50th homer, joining Mickey Mantle as switch-hitters to reach mark

    Updated: 12:15 AM EDT Aug 26, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Cal Raleigh hit his 50th homer on Monday night, extending his major league record for home runs by a catcher and entering some elite company.Raleigh joined Mickey Mantle as the only switch-hitters to hit 50 homers in a season, and he became the eighth player in major league history to reach the half-century mark in August.Video above: Baseball writer explains new ‘torpedo’ bats in MLBBatting from the right side, the Big Dumper sent a 3-2 fastball from San Diego’s JP Sears 419 feet into the second deck in left field.He’s the second Mariners player to hit 50 homers in a season. Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. hit 56 in 1997 and again in ’98.Raleigh has three homers in the past two games. He hit Nos. 48 and 49 during Sunday’s 11-4 win over the Athletics. Salvador Perez had the previous record for homers by a catcher with 48 in 2021.

    SEATTLE —

    Cal Raleigh hit his 50th homer on Monday night, extending his major league record for home runs by a catcher and entering some elite company.

    Raleigh joined Mickey Mantle as the only switch-hitters to hit 50 homers in a season, and he became the eighth player in major league history to reach the half-century mark in August.

    Video above: Baseball writer explains new ‘torpedo’ bats in MLB

    Batting from the right side, the Big Dumper sent a 3-2 fastball from San Diego’s JP Sears 419 feet into the second deck in left field.

    He’s the second Mariners player to hit 50 homers in a season. Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. hit 56 in 1997 and again in ’98.

    Raleigh has three homers in the past two games. He hit Nos. 48 and 49 during Sunday’s 11-4 win over the Athletics. Salvador Perez had the previous record for homers by a catcher with 48 in 2021.

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  • In aftermath of Zack Wheeler loss, Phillies showcase a new rally cry vs. Mariners

    One way to reassure your fan base, and serve notice to the rest of MLB, that losing your best pitcher and best overall player isn’t an automatic championship barrier is to do just what the Phillies did this week.

    They wiped the Citizens Bank Park floor with one of the better teams the American League has to offer, pummeling the Mariners in a three-game sweep by a total score of 29-13 and pounding out an astronomical 48 hits and nine homers, including an exclamation point shot by National League homer leader Kyle Schwarber on Wednesday afternoon to put the finishing touch on an 11-2 whitewashing.

    No Zack Wheeler? No problem.

    Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo each took turns spinning gems while the Mariners spun themselves in and out the batter’s box to the tune of a record 46 strikeouts, 34 coming from the starting rotation. Seattle added to the unseasonably gusty winds swirling around South Philly as the outer edge of Hurricane Erin climbed up the Atlantic. .

    Who’d have thought these Phillies would set a strikeout record that wasn’t charged to their batting order?

    The Mariners walked into a buzzsaw they had no idea was coming, and neither did most of the fans that packed The Bank this week to witness an unprecedented display of batting prowess to complement the electric pitching.

    “Seems like they hit some balls hard, but a lot of what they didn’t hit hard also found holes,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson told reporters after Wednesday’s close game turned into another debacle, a curious statement given the Phils’ nine hits that found holes in the grandstands. “It just made it difficult.” 

    Nobody tell Malcolm Jenkins, but the Phillies are infringing on the Eagles legend’s trademark as they make their messaging loud and clear about losing Wheeler for the rest of the season, and probably the postseason, from a blood clot near his throwing shoulder.

    They all they got, they all they need.

    Nothing would be more bittersweet than seeing these Phillies bring John Middleton his bleepin’ trophy back while Wheeler, in the midst of perhaps his greatest season, watched from home, but the reality is you don’t have squint too hard to see another Philly Special taking place.

    Is there a doctor in the house? We need a blood sample to detect the potential of identical double helixes in the DNA strands of those Eagles and these Phillies. 

    Sánchez, now the team’s de facto ace, channeled his inner Nick Foles, foiling Seattle with an almost out-of-body experience on the mound Tuesday as he masterfully worked his changeup and sweeper against a Murderer’s Row of MLB dinger leader Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Eugenio Suárez, only to have it temporarily spoiled by Orion Kerkering’s inability to throw a strike.

    But the suddenly resurgent J.T. Realmuto’s eighth-inning blast followed by Jhoan Duran’s perfect ninth gave the Phillies exactly what they’d been missing for much of the season’s first four months, and what they’ll need for October to be red again — a serious power threat behind Bryce Harper, and a door-slammer in the ninth.

    Who knows if Realmuto will continue to resemble his 2022 form – the last time he clubbed more than 20 homers – and if the bottom-order Phillies will keep swinging the bats like they did against the Mariners. History says this streaky offense will come crashing back to Earth sooner than later.

    But it’s undeniable that Duran’s addition has already led the Phils to winning games that they previously would’ve lost, like Tuesday’s 6-4 thriller and the consecutive one-run triumphs in Texas two weekends ago that cemented another three-game sweep.

    Is this really a Phillies team refueled by the loss their ace, or just another ephemeral magic-carpet sweeping through the ebb and flow of a long season that’s bound to descend to sea level perhaps as early as this weekend against the Nationals?

    Only time will tell.

    But with every Schwarbarian blast as he hunts down Shohei Ohtani for NL MVP, and with every high-leverage appearance by the Durantula, the Phillies keep pulling away from the Mets in the NL East and hanging with the white-hot Brewers for the NL’s top seed.

    And every game the Phillies get an RBI from someone not named Turner, Harper or Schwarber – that’s up to four straight games, all wins –  the Phillies become an increasingly dangerous team.

    It was suggested here last month that the Phillies didn’t do enough in acquiring only Duran and Harrison Bader at the deadline to truly tilt the championship-contender axis their way, but if these are the Phillies that show up in the playoffs, if role players like Bryson Stott and Max Kepler have awoken permanently from their season-long slumber, then they stand a much better chance of contending than previously thought.

    At this point, it doesn’t appear any reinforcements are coming, or needed, from top prospects Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford.

    Right now, the fate of the 2025 Phillies rests in the arms and bats of the guys who just made a long flight home for the Mariners even longer.

    These Phillies are all they got … is it all they need?

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    Geoff Mosher

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  • Phillies return home with sweep of Mariners in offensive onslaught

    The Phillies needed to get back home after a 10-game rollercoaster of a road trip, and they needed to come back to the Citizens Bank Park crowd with a performance like this week’s. 

    The bats hit all over the field and into the seats; the starting pitchers, in the face of losing Zack Wheeler indefinitely as their ace at the top, held strong; and though the bullpen still proved shaky overall, so long as they can get to the ninth, their newest closer can and will shut it down. 

    The Phillies swept the visiting – and contending – Seattle Mariners in a three-game series and the first leg of a six-game homestand for the club in South Philadelphia, capping the set off with an 11-2 win on Wednesday backed by 12 strikeouts and six excellent innings from Jesús Luzardo.

    The Phillies are 74-53, and continue to maintain their lead over the Mets for first in the NL East, which now stands at a 6.0-game buffer with the Nationals on deck and then a potentially pivotal trip up to Queens coming up. 

    Their work against Seattle was a good start to lead them into it. They needed that. 

    They needed Ranger Suárez to bounce back. The left-hander was falling back into what looked to be becoming habitual second-half struggles, but with the makeup of the Phillies’ starting rotation suddenly shifting, he rounded back into dominance on Monday night.

    Suárez mowed through the Mariners’ order for 6.2 innings, collecting 10 strikeouts and holding them scoreless until, after 102 pitches, a solo homer from Mitch Garver and a hit by pitch to Dominic Canzone that immediately followed put a blemish on the effort and gave manager Rob Thomson the cue to hand the ball off to the bullpen. (What they didn’t need, though, was Jordan Romano, with a six-run lead, nearly sending it all off the rails in an instant. It’s only getting harder to trust him with any situation anymore.)

    They needed Cristopher Sánchez to continue endlessly rising to the occasion, too. 

    The de facto No. 1 in the Phillies’ rotation now, Sánchez took his turn on the mound on Tuesday night with his changeup as lethal as ever, leaving Seattle’s lineup flailing as he went on to match a career-best 12 strikeouts. When he was pulled in the seventh after allowing a walk, but not before he registered that last strikeout with a 4-1 lead, the left-hander handed the ball to Thomson and walked back to the dugout with the crowd of more than 44,000 not just standing for him, but roaring. (It just happened to be Orion Kerkering’s turn to run into trouble in relief right after, but the Phillies found a way to survive it.)

    Then they really needed that offensive onslaught. 

    By the second inning on Tuesday night, every batter in the lineup had a hit. Bryce Harper went on to crush two homers way into right field, J.T. Realmuto went solo to left for his trip around the bases, and Trea Turner, before either of those, launched a three-run shot over the fence for his first home run at home all season – and what was, then officially wasn’t his 1,500th career hit. 

    “To be honest with you, I don’t think that’s ever happened to me where I haven’t hit a homer at home for however many games,” Turner said from the clubhouse afterward. “Fifty games sounds like a lot, but we’re 120 games in or whatever it is, that’s pretty crazy that I’ve hit as many as I have on the road and zero at home. It was kind of becoming a joke or just giving up on it because it’s really weird.”

    But it was hard to even realize it had been that long before it, finally, happened. 

    Turner went 4-for-6 leading off on Monday night with two runs scored and five runs driven in. On Tuesday, Turner singled, stole a base, and then scored to spot the Phillies a 3-1 lead. Then on Wednesday, he sailed a pitch to the right-center wall from the jump and flew around the bases for a lead-off triple that went on to tie the game early, 1-1.

    In his last nine games entering Wednesday’s series finale, Turner was slashing .450/.476/.600 with a nine-game hit streak that he quickly stretched into 10. 

    The rest of the lineup has been following his lead.

    “I think for him, and I think he understood, that for us to win, he’s gotta score runs and he’s gotta be on base, utilize the speed,” Thomson said postgame on Tuesday night. “The home runs, they’re gonna come…He’s so important to our offense.”

    As are Harper, Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, and of late, Bryson Stott.

    Harper singled to begin the eighth on Tuesday night, then Realmuto homered again for the go-ahead. 

    Schwarber tee’d up on his 44th homer of the season earlier in the first, and reached a new career-high 105 RBIs quickly into Wednesday with a sac fly that scored Turner from third, and all as the “M-V-P” chants grow louder. He still has more than a month to keep building his case, and did so with one more homer to pile on late into Wednesday.

    Then Stott, settling in at the ninth spot in the order, doubled and went 2-for-5 on Monday; drew a walk, stole a base, scored, and homered on Tuesday; and doubled to the right-field wall to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the second on Wednesday that they never looked back from.

    “I like him right where he’s at,” Thomson said pregame Wednesday of having Stott that far down the lineup. “He’s playing great.”

    And the Phillies need that from him. 

    They needed everything they got at the Bank this week, and more of it as the regular season pushes into its final month. 

    Finally, they needed Jhoan Duran, for the save on Tuesday night and just in general. 

    Because for as unstable as the Phillies’ bullpen can still be, one thing is absolute about it now: If the Phils get to the ninth with the lead, you’re seeing spiders on the screen and triple-digits on the radar gun. 

    Then it’s game over.

    Managing the outfield

    Nick Castellanos sat for Wednesday’s series finale against the Mariners. He sat on Saturday in Washington, too. 

    Before the trade deadline, he was an assumed everyday player, but since Harrison Bader came in from Minnesota, the Phillies have been trying to manage a four-man outfield rotation between Bader, Castellanos, Max Kepler, and a Brandon Marsh on a considerable hot streak of late. 

    In his office ahead of Wednesday’s game, Thomson indicated to reporters that the Phillies will likely continue to operate on that outfield rotation. Well, for now, at least. 

    “I mean, if three guys get really hot and one guy’s not…yeah,” Thomson said, not wholly committing to the idea. 

    But for now, Marsh started in left on Wednesday, Bader in center, and Kepler in right. 

    Marsh went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored at the plate, Bader 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Kepler 2-for-4 with a solo home run in the fourth that put the Phillies ahead, 3-1. 

    Bader and Kepler have both had their struggles with consistency. So has Castellanos, although he did go 2-for-5 in back-to-back games Sunday in Washington and then Monday at home against Seattle before going 0-for-4 on Tuesday night. 

    There’s a balance to be struck now between getting all four outfielders enough rest and at-bats, Thomson explained. The manager also noted that Castellanos’ knee injury, which he suffered up at Yankee Stadium in late July, was another point to be mindful of as he navigates who plays and when. 

    Granted, Thomson acknowledged, too, that Castellanos would disregard that as someone who prides themselves on playing every day.

    But…

    “He’s a good teammate, and he knows that those other guys are good players, too,” Thomson said of Castellanos.

    “I think they’re all everyday players to tell you the truth,” Thomson added. It’s just you gotta keep them all rested and sharp at the same time if you can.”

    Welcome back

    José Alvarado was reinstated from his 80-game PED suspension on Tuesday and was finally back on the mound on Wednesday.

    Called on for the eighth inning, and with a comfortable 8-2 lead to work with, the Citizens Bank Park crowd welcomed Alvarado back with cheers upon PA announcer Dan Baker’s call that he was entering the game. 

    Then the flamethrowing left-hander made quick work of the Mariners: A 1-2-3 inning, with a strikeout of star slugger Cal Raleigh to send them toward the ninth. 

    He didn’t miss a beat. 

    Nick Tricome

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  • Raleigh’s walk-off HR sends Mariners to playoffs

    Raleigh’s walk-off HR sends Mariners to playoffs

    SEATTLE — More than an hour after Cal Raleigh ended the longest playoff drought in baseball, he was back on the field with his teammates, circling the perimeter of the field to acknowledge the tens of thousands of fans who still stuck around.

    The celebration was more akin to winning something big in October, rather than a victory on the last day of September. But after 21 years, the Seattle Mariners could be excused for going a little over the top upon their return to the playoffs.

    “It’s better than maybe what you could dream it to be,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

    Raleigh hit a game-winning home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Mariners clinched a wild-card berth in the American League with a 2-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.

    Raleigh, pinch-hitting for Luis Torrens, hit a 3-2 pitch from Domingo Acevedo (3-4) just inside the right-field foul pole for a solo homer that sent the Mariners to the postseason for the first time since 2001.

    “I remember the moment when I knew it was fair and looking at the team and everybody’s jumping. It was just crazy,” Raleigh said.

    Seattle’s celebration on the field lasted more than 10 minutes as fans and players lifted themselves from the burden of two decades without seeing playoffs from their baseball team.

    That was just the start.

    Nearly an hour later, and with the stands still mostly full, Servais and his team were back on the field after a wild clubhouse celebration. He grabbed the microphone and reminded the crowd, colorfully, that when he arrived along with president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto seven years ago, the mission was to end the “drought.”

    “We did it. These players behind me are special. They care. They care about winning the right way. They care about representing the city of Seattle,” Servais told the crowd.

    It indeed had been a long wait — the last time the Mariners advanced to the postseason, the team was led by rookie Ichiro Suzuki and Edgar Martinez and managed by Lou Piniella.

    As has been the case for most of this season with the Mariners, their 86th win and the one that sent them back to the playoffs happened in the most stressful way possible. Seattle was unable to solve Oakland starter Ken Waldichuk and an assembly line of relievers for eight innings, held only to Ty France‘s RBI double that scored Dylan Moore two batters into the game.

    Acevedo struck out Mitch Haniger and Carlos Santana to open the ninth, but Raleigh came through with his 26th home run of the season, the most ever by a Seattle catcher.

    “It’s not really a pressure moment,” Raleigh said. “We’re having fun. We’re playing baseball. That’s the way I look at it. And I think that’s the mentality you got to have.”

    Aside from the clinching a spot in the postseason, Seattle stayed 1½ games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the top wild-card spot and one half-game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays as the three continue to jockey for seeding.

    But the place in the standings didn’t matter on this night. It was all about punching the final AL ticket and ending two decades without the guarantee of playoff baseball.

    Seattle’s berth ended the longest active playoff drought in any of the four major professional sports, a dubious honor that now falls to the Sacramento Kings, who have not made the NBA playoffs since the 2005-06 season. The Mariners are still the only current team never to have played in the World Series.

    The last time the Mariners reached the postseason they tied a major league record by winning 116 games in the regular season, but lost to the New York Yankees 3-1 in the AL Championship Series.

    Seattle’s Logan Gilbert threw a career-high eight innings, allowing three hits. His only mistake was a home run by Shea Langeliers in the second inning.

    Gilbert retired 18 of the final 20 batters he faced and set down the A’s in order in each of his final four innings. Seth Brown walked leading of the seventh but was retired on a double play.

    Gilbert struck out four and walked off the mound after the eighth to a standing ovation and the plea from fans for a run.

    Matt Brash (4-4) struck out a pair in the ninth and set the stage for Raleigh.

    “It was crazy. I mean, I haven’t been in Seattle but a few years but I feel like I’m one of the fans that have waited for 21 years,” Gilbert said. “It was just a culmination of a lot of waiting.”

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