Cal Raleigh’s late home run sends Mariners to dramatic victory over Rays

SEATTLE – They arrived early to celebrate one Mariners icon.

They stood and cheered late Friday to cheer on another emerging Mariners legend.

With his team trailing by two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Cal Raleigh turned on a 2-0 sweeper from Tampa Bay Rays reliever Griffin Jax and launched it 417 feet out to right-center field for a three-run home run, sending the Mariners to a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind victory in their series opener.

“Those are the games you look back on at the end of the year and you’re like, ‘That was a big one,’” Raleigh said. “That was a huge, huge win tonight.”

To kick off Ichiro’s Hall of Fame weekend, fans stood in a line outside T-Mobile Park that stretched several blocks toward Pioneer Square early Friday afternoon. The announced crowd of 39,780 was one of largest turnouts of the season.

Virtually every single fan was standing in the eighth inning after J.P. Crawford and Cole Young hit back-to-back singles off Jax with one out. Crawford advanced to second, the first Mariners runner of the day to move into scoring position.

Randy Arozarena popped out for the second out, bringing up Raleigh, who was greeted with “M-V-P!” chants throughout his at-bat.

Those cheers grew even louder after his three-run blast gave the Mariners their first lead on a night they were shut down by Rays starter Drew Rasmussen.

“I was just so excited; I didn’t hear [the chants] during that time,” Raleigh said. “I was just pumped up. That was a sweet go-ahead homer in a big spot.”

It was Raleigh’s 43rd home run of the season, pushing him two ahead of the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead. It was also his MLB-leading sixth go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later.

It was Raleigh’s first home run in eight days. He was 0 for 3 to start Friday’s game and 2 for 26 to begin August, though his hard-hit data suggests he’d been a little unlucky over the past week.

“For him to be able to just to stay locked in and pick up that kind of a home run right there, that’s a clutch at-bat. It’s a clutch home run,” M’s manager Dan Wilson said. “That’s pretty impressive, that he’s able to do it. And that that tells me he’s right where he should be.”

The Mariners, 7-1 since the trade-deadline additions of Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez to the lineup, are inching closer to where they want to be. At 64-53, they are a season-high 11 games over .500 and remain 1.5 games back of Houston atop the AL West.

“It’s a really good feeling in the clubhouse, and there is a lot of confidence,” Wilson said. “… And you love the confidence, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Luis Castillo allowed two runs — on two solo homers — over seven strong innings. Carlos Vargas worked a scoreless eighth and Matt Brash struck out the side in the ninth for his second save of the season.

Naylor update 

A day after exiting the game due to discomfort in his left shoulder, Josh Naylor was out of the starting lineup for Friday’s series opener vs. the Tampa Bay Rays.

But neither he nor the Mariners seem overly concerned about the situation.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m not worried about it.”

Manager Dan Wilson labeled Naylor as “day to day.”

“It’s just a chance for him today to get a little rest and we’ll reassess again after the game,” Wilson said. “I think he seems to be in a pretty good spot. It’s just a chance to catch his breath.”

Admittedly, Naylor loathes being out of the lineup for any reason. He wants to play every day. But he wanted to treat Friday like a rest day from the grind of the season.

He also knew there was a possibility it wouldn’t be a full rest day.

Asked before the game if Naylor would be available to pinch hit if needed, Wilson said, “Probably, yeah, we’ll see how it goes. We’ll see how it is closer to game time.”

Naylor noticeably grimaced after fouling off a pitch during his first plate appearance in Thursday afternoon’s victory over the White Sox. He looked uncomfortable following swings in his second plate appearance where he grounded out to second.

After a conversation with the athletic training staff in the dugout, he was removed from the game.

Naylor has developed a reputation of being tough with a willingness to play through the nagging injuries that arise over a 162-game season. Earlier this season while playing with the Diamondbacks, he took a fastball off his hand and remained in the game despite the discomfort. When asked if he underwent X-rays for the injured hand, Naylor told Arizona reporters: “I don’t do those,” he said. “I don’t care (what they say). As long as I can move it, we’re good.”

Naylor reluctantly took a day off the following game. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo had described the conversation with Naylor after he got hit.

“Sometimes players get very quiet,” Lovullo said. “They listen to the commands of the medical team. That’s not the case with Josh. He is like a 7-year-old. ‘Ow, that hurt. That really hurt. That really hurt. That really (expletive) hurt. It’s getting better. Hang on. I’m going to stay in this game. Don’t think about taking me out of this game. It still (expletive) hurts. Oh my god, I can’t believe it.’”

Since joining the Mariners, Naylor has become a fan favorite with his on-field intensity and his surprising adeptness for stealing bases despite not being the fastest player on the field.

In 13 games since being traded to Seattle, Naylor has posted a .261/.320/.478 slash line with a double, three homers and six RBI. He’s also stolen 10 bases in 10 attempts.

Rehab roundup

Bryce Miller (elbow inflammation) continues to move closer to a return to the Mariners rotation. He made his second rehab start with Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday, pitching 3 2/3 innings and giving up four runs on four hits with three of the hits being homers. Working with a limit of around 65 pitches, Miller threw 66 pitches (47 strikes).

He’s expected to make one more rehab start and push his pitch limit to 85 before being activated from the injured list.

“We’ll continue to talk about it going forward,” Wilson said of Miller’s timeline. “But I’m just glad that we’re getting to that point where we have to make some of those decisions.”

Outfielder/first baseman Luke Raley (back spasms) started his rehab stint with Tacoma on Friday night. He got the start at designated hitter while being inserted in the No. 2 spot in the batting order. Raley is expected to play with the Rainiers through the weekend before being reinstated from the injured list.