SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh’s 64th home run of the year wasn’t his longest. Simply the most satisfying.
The Big Dumper’s eighth-inning drive against the Toronto Blue Jays was not a certainty. The ball rose in a high arc 150 feet above the field and had a hang time of 6.7 seconds before falling over the left field wall at T-Mobile Park, 350 feet from home plate.
“So open the roof, you know, maybe a different outcome, I don’t know,” Raleigh said after Friday’s 6-2 win, which brought the Seattle Mariners within one win of their first World Series trip. “But I’m glad I’ve had enough of that.”
Seattle returns to Toronto on Sunday night for Game 6 with a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven ALCS. Eugenio Suárez later hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth.
Raleigh, a switch-hitting catcher who led the Major Leagues with 60 home runs during the regular season, has four more in the playoffs.
He also showed off his Gold Glove-winning defense. With the Mariners leading 1-0 in the fourth, the Blue Jays loaded the bases with one out against starter Bryce Miller, then Raleigh converted the second 2-3 grounder into a double play in postseason history.
Ernie Clement tapped the ball onto the plate. Raleigh picked up the ball with one foot on the plate for a force out and then threw to first base.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson started the only previous 2-3 GIDP in postseason history, against the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2000 ALCS.
“It was just heads-up play,” Wilson said. “I don’t think anyone could have positioned him better than where he ended up, and he could jump on that, touch home plate and get the easy double play at first.”
Toronto went just 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and was held to two runs after scoring 21 points in the previous two games.
“That’s what he’s done all season, on both sides of the ball,” Wilson said. “We saw him make that play today, a lot of nice blocks today, and then be able to perform offensively like he did. It’s, again, an easy MVP pick in my mind and today was just another perfect example of that.”
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