Cal Raleigh homers twice, but Mariners extend season-high losing streak

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Chaos is more of what the Mariners wanted.

Chaos is what they got and not the good kind.

It started with Julio Rodríguez getting injured after being hit on the leg by a batted ball while trying to steal third base and leaving the game in the third inning. His replacement in center field, Leody Taveras, followed by failing to make two key defensive plays as part of a shaky third where the Mariners committed a pair of errors in the field.

Throw in starting pitcher Luis Castillo surrendering three home runs and an offense that scored four runs in the first two innings but managed just two thereafter.

Added all up, and the Mariners losing streak reached a season-high five games after falling 8-6 to the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night before 29,407 at Angel Stadium.

The M’s are 32-31 and at risk of getting swept for a second consecutive series entering Sunday’s finale.

Cal Raleigh homered — twice — hitting his 25th of the season in the first inning and staking the Mariners to a 3-0 lead, before clobbering his 26th with one out in the ninth inning off Angels closer Kenley Jansen. Cole Young snapped out of his early funk with a pair of hits, his first career extra-base hit and an RBI single.

And yet four runs, six hits and a 4-0 lead after two innings proved to not be enough as Castillo allowed three home runs in five innings after giving up just four in 681/3 innings entering the game.

Three solo homers can usually be withstood. But couple that with an inning of defensive miscues immediately after Rodríguez left the game and it’s a losing recipe for a team unable to overcome those kind of mistakes.

Everything shifted for Seattle when Rodríguez painfully limped off the field after getting hit on his lower-right leg with a 98.1 mph ball off the bat of Randy Arozarena in the top of the third inning. Rodriguez was attempting to steal third base on the pitch and never appeared to see the ball until it impacted his leg. He was attended to on the field for a few minutes, helped off by members of the M’s athletic training staff and there was no update before the game ended.

But it was clear what his absence created.

If Rodríguez doesn’t get hit, Taveras isn’t asked to take over in center field and immediately misplay the first ball hit his direction, a short fly ball from Zach Neto that fell for a single. Taveras gifted Neto an extra 90 feet as well after deflecting away for an error. Even with Taveras’ mistake, the Mariners could have escaped the inning without damage, but Rowdy Tellez was unable to handle a lower throw from Raleigh after fielding Taylor Ward’s tapper in front of the plate with the error allowing Neto to score.

That was followed by the second miscue by Taveras, even if it was scored a double. Taveras called off right fielder Miles Mastrobuoni but was unable to make a leaping catch on Chris Taylor’s drive to right-center field, allowing a second run to score in the inning and suddenly Seattle’s 4-0 lead was a 4-4 game.

And while you can’t take away the impact of that one chaotic inning, the additional layer for the M’s was Castillo getting loudly knocked around.

He hung a slider to Taylor and left a fastball down the middle to Jo Adell for a pair of solo homers in the second inning, unable to protect that early advantage.

Adell homered again in the fourth to take the lead — this time on a 0-2 slider that wasn’t in a bad spot but landed 445 feet away in the mountain stream in left-center field — and well-struck doubles from Nolan Schanuel and Ward in the fifth gave the Angels a 6-4 lead.

Castillo (4-4) worked through the fifth, but allowed eight hits, four earned runs and struck out five.

Everything that happened in the third inning took away from a night when Raleigh continued his assault on the home run records. His 25th barely cleared the leap of Adell in right-center field and was his sixth homer in the first inning this season.

Only Barry Bonds (twice), Mark McGuire, Albert Pujols and Ken Griffey Jr. have reached the 25-homer mark on an early date on the calendar than Raleigh.

On his way to 56 homers in 1997, Griffey hit his 25th on June 2 — the M’s 56th game that season. Raleigh’s came on June 7 in the 63rd game.

Rodriguez day-to-day

Manager Dan Wilson said the initial X-ray came back negative and Rodriguez has a contusion on his shin. He’s considered day-to-day and should avoid the injured list, barring any setbacks.

Rodríguez limped to the railing of the Angels dugout before laying on the field for a few minutes while being assessed by members of the Mariners athletic training staff. He eventually left the field with some assistance and clearly not feeling well.

Rodríguez had singled in his first two at-bats of the game and was 2 for 4 in the opener on Friday. Including his two hits on Saturday, Rodríguez is batting .367 over the past 11 games.