Cal Raleigh smashed a solo home run in the ninth inning, breaking the tie and securing a 5-4 victory for the Seattle Mariners over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Raleigh connected with an 0-2 pitch from Josh Hader, sending it into the Crawford Boxes in left field with one out in the ninth. Luis Urías had tied the game at four in the eighth with an RBI single. Raleigh mentioned he was anticipating a fastball, which he got.
“I was expecting the fastball throughout the at-bat and ready to adjust if needed,” he said. “He threw two good pitches before that. I stuck to my plan. He left it over the plate, and I capitalized on it.”
Hader admitted he intended to pitch up and inside but missed his spot. “I just didn’t execute my pitch,” Hader acknowledged. “At the end of the day, executing your pitches, sometimes it works out for you.”
This marked Raleigh’s second game-winning home run in the ninth inning or later this season.
“He finds a way,” praised Seattle manager Scott Servais about Raleigh. “He typically hits the ball in the air. Late in games, if you have power to hit the ball in the air, good things are going to happen.”
Andrés Muñoz earned the win by pitching the final 1 1/3 innings. Seattle has now clinched victory in six consecutive series.
“We’re pitching outstanding,” commented Servais. “I’ve been mentioning that for the past month or so. Our defense has also improved significantly, I feel. … We’re still not firing on all cylinders offensively, but we’re making progress.”
Jon Singleton’s two-run homer to right field in the seventh gave Houston a 4-3 lead. Kyle Tucker’s two-run homer to right field in the sixth cut Seattle’s lead to 3-2.
Luke Raley led off the sixth inning with a solo home run into the second deck in right field, and the Mariners scored two in the second inning on an Urías bases-loaded walk and a Josh Rojas RBI single. Rojas ended the game with three hits.
