Raleigh Goes Deep Three Times, Seattle Buries Philadelphia 9-2
Cal Raleigh hit three home runs, drove in four, and scored three times as Seattle dismantled Philadelphia 9-2 on August 25. The Mariners needed exactly one inning to make clear this game was never really a contest.
Philadelphia drew first blood in the top of the first — a Schwarber run on a Bohm groundout made it 1-0 — but Seattle answered with a first inning that looks, in hindsight, like the entire story of the night. Julio Rodriguez launched a 392-foot home run to left, scoring Arozarena and Canzone to flip the score 3-1. That single swing moved Seattle's win probability from 48% to 72%, a 24-point lurch that the Phillies never recovered from. Raleigh then added a 378-foot shot to right to score Ward, and just like that it was 5-1 before Philadelphia had time to regroup.
Realmuto gave the Phillies a pulse with a 377-foot solo shot to left center in the second, trimming it to 5-2, and for a moment it looked like Philadelphia might claw back into it. That moment did not last. A Wheeler wild pitch in the third scored Rodriguez and pushed the lead to 6-2, and then Seattle's offense went back to work in the fifth — Raleigh's second homer of the night, a 397-foot shot to right center, made it 7-2, and Cole Young followed immediately with a 356-foot blast to right for 8-2. Raleigh closed the scoring in the seventh with his third home run, a 351-foot drive to right, finishing the night 3-for-3 with three home runs, four RBI, and three runs scored. That is a performance that demands attention regardless of opponent.
On the mound, Logan Gilbert gave Seattle five innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts — serviceable, not dominant, but more than enough given the run support. Seranthony Dominguez followed with two scoreless innings, striking out two without allowing a hit. For Philadelphia, Chase Shugart lasted only two innings and surrendered the three-run Rodriguez homer that broke the game open. Bryce Harper went 2-for-3 and Realmuto hit his home run, but the Phillies' offense appears to have had no answer for the avalanche Seattle produced. Josh Naylor went 3-for-4 and Rodriguez finished 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBI, meaning Seattle's damage was spread across the lineup — though the story of the night was unquestionably Raleigh, who turned in one of the more complete individual performances you'll see in a nine-inning game.