Cal Raleigh clubs two more homers as Mariners rally past Cubs

CHICAGO – On a day when the Cubs honored one of the best home run hitters in major league history, it was the best home run hitter of the 2025 season who allowed Seattle to steal some of Sammy Sosa’s shine and hand Chicago a 9-4 defeat.

Cal Raleigh clubbed two home runs to not only increase his MLB-leading total to 29 but also surpass Johnny Bench for the most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break as the Mariners rallied from early deficits of 3-1 and 4-2 to improve to 38-36 on the season.

Bench had 28 in 1970 with the Cincinnati Reds.

“Anytime you are mentioned in the same sentence with one of the best, if not the best, to ever do it is obviously a special thing,’’ Raleigh said. “So just very grateful.”

Raleigh hit a home run in the first to give Seattle a 1-0 lead, and then a two-run shot in the seventh that ended up on Waveland Avenue beyond left field that broke a 4-all tie and gave the Mariners the lead for good.

Raleight’s feat came on a day when Sosa made his first official appearance at Wrigley Field since 2004, getting a standing ovation when shown on the big screen following a video of his highlights before the bottom of the second inning.

“Cal, just, it’s amazing what he’s been doing,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, who was again happy to try to find more words to describe Raleigh’s blistering start to the season, even if finding something new to say is getting harder and harder.

Seeing Raleigh’s second blast completely clear the park, though, might have been the most memorable of his homers this season for Wilson, who attended many games in Wrigley Field while growing up in nearby Arlington Heights.

“I watched a lot of Cubs games on TV and you saw that happen and to see Cal do it, it’s a little bit surreal,” Wilson said. “But that’s what he’s been doing.”

Raleigh was almost outdone on this day by fellow Mariners catcher Mitch Garver.

Garver, playing DH, also blasted two home runs – a two-run shot that tied the game in the sixth and then a three-run job that gave Seattle a comfortable cushion in the ninth.

In the process, Raleigh and Garver became the first pair of teammates who are primary catchers with two or more home runs in the same game since Joe Ferguson and Steve Yeager did it with the Dodgers on Aug. 7, 1979.

“Catchers rake, I guess.” Raleigh said.

The second home run was the 100th of Garver’s career and he was greeted with a celebratory beer shower in the locker room afterward.

“That’s the best, man,” Garver said. “… Never too old to have a little fun.”

It was a moment that also caused the 34-year-old Garver to become a little reflective afterward.

“It’s an amazing personal achievement for myself,” he said. “I never really expected to make it to the big leagues in the first place, so to reach 100 homers is pretty cool.”

Sosa, who is the Cubs’ all-time HR hitter with 545 and ninth in MLB with 609, hadn’t been to Wrigley since his last season as a player with the team in 2004, an estrangement that followed allegations that he had used steroids during his career.

But he made what was perceived as a public apology last December saying he had “made mistakes” during his playing days, which opened the door to him being publicly embraced again by the organization.

Sosa is slated to be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in September. Word leaked early Friday that he planned to be at the game against the Mariners.

“Was cool to be able to see him in the middle innings, a legend up there,” Raleigh said of Sosa.

It looked like the Cubs would make it a day-long celebration as they clubbed four hits off Seattle starter George Kirby in the first inning to take a 3-1 lead.

But Kirby then settled down and allowed only one more run in his final four innings to keep Seattle in it.

Kirby said nothing changed other than some better control.

“Just got to get ahead and try not to get behind in counts,” he said. “That’s about it.”

Seattle also used a two-out single by Donovan Solano to cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth, illustrative of a day when all nine Seattle runs scored with two outs.

“The two-out offense is always something that you’re looking for,” Wilson said. “… thought we had some really good at-bats with two outs fighting our way through it. And the home runs are great, but getting traffic on ahead of those is key also and that’s the more sustainable for us as a team.”

Not that anyone really had an answer for why they were able to do it so well Friday compared to some other recent offense-challenged days.

Asked about his big day, Garver said “hard to say. I do enjoy hitting here in Wrigley.”

Indeed, he was 9 for 28 in his career at Wrigley before going 2 for 4 with five runs batted in Friday.

Raleigh, meanwhile, recorded his 16th multihomer game since 2022, second behind only the 26 of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, and his sixth this season, the most in the majors, eliciting a few chants of “MVP’’ from fans as he conducted an interview on the field after the game.

“At some point it’s got to slow down, it seems like,” said Garver of Raleigh, who has 13 home runs and 30 RBIs in his past 24 games. “But more power to him. He is putting up insane numbers right now.”

The Mariners knew it might be a good day for offense with the wind blowing out at a listed 12 miles an hour at first pitch, as well as an 84-degree temperature.

It’s only going to get hotter the next two days with temperatures expected in the mid-90s for games Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

That made it all the more imperative for Seattle to get this one and build off a 4-2 homestand and kickstart what is a 10-game road trip and the first of what is 17 games in 17 days without a break.

“We talk about team wins,’’ said Wilson, noting that five relievers combined to shut out the Cubs – who came into the game having scored the second-most runs in baseball – while the defense did not commit an error. “This was a good team win.’’

Considering the history of Wrigley, a sold-out crowd and the honoring of Sosa, Raleigh thought a win that’s about as good as it gets.

“It’s kind of why you play the game, right?’’ said Raleigh. “Games like that.’’