Raleigh hits 'em out, Evans mows 'em down as Mariners crush Nationals

Shane Lantz, The Seattle Times on May 28, 2025

Published in Baseball

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Raleigh, who already has the most homers by an MLB catcher through the first four seasons of their career and the most of any catcher in franchise history, broke another mark Tuesday night with two home runs in Seattle’s 9-1 win over the Washington Nationals.

His first homer, a first-inning moonshot deep into the left field bleachers off Washington lefty starter Mitchell Parker, tied him with Kyle Schwarber and Aaron Judge for the second-most homers in baseball this season, with 18.

In the fifth inning, he hit his 19th of the season on a 365-foot blast to left field, setting an MLB record for the most homers by a catcher through a team’s first 53 games of a season.

Roy Campanella held the previous record of 18, set in 1955 with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Raleigh’s homer marked just the sixth time a Mariners player has hit 19 or more homers in the first 53 games of the season. Ken Griffey, Jr. did it in 1994 (22), 1997 (24), and 1999 (20), while Alex Rodriguez had 20 through 53 games in 1998, and Jay Buhner had 19 through 53 in 1996.

Raleigh, a fan favorite who is on pace for a historic season at the plate, now has six homers in Seattle’s past eight games, has played in every game this season, and ranked third in MLB in Fangraphs WAR coming into Tuesday’s game.

Raleigh’s first homer made it 3-0 for the Mariners, and came immediately after Julio Rodríguez hit a two-run blast, his 10th of the season. Raleigh followed four pitches later with his first big fly of the night, and the Mariners were quickly in control.

His record-setting second homer gave the Mariners a 4-1 lead and ended Parker’s night after 4 ⅔ innings.

While Raleigh provided the thump on Tuesday, Mariners starter Logan Evans shined as well. The 23-year old rookie was untouchable through three perfect innings, retiring the first nine Washington hitters on just 24 pitches.

But after getting C.J. Abrams to ground out to lead off the fourth, James Wood ended Evans’ shot at a perfect game, no-hitter, or a shutout all on one swing, a 448-foot homer to center field that made the score 3-1.

But Evans continued to cruise after that hiccup. After Nathaniel Lowe followed Wood’s homer with a single to left field, Evans got Keibert Ruiz to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Evans then retired the Nationals in order in the fifth inning, and threw just 10 more pitches in the sixth while coaxing another double play, and stood at just 53 pitches thrown after six.

Seattle broke the game open with three more runs in the sixth inning. Dylan Moore scored from third on a fielder’s choice grounder from Ben Williamson, as Nationals third baseman José Tena threw home on the play, but Moore slid in ahead of the tag to make it a 5-1 game.

Donovan Solano then scored on a J.P. Crawford ground out to shortstop, and Williamson scored on a bloop single from Rodríguez that glanced off the glove off Nationals second baseman Luis García, Jr. in shallow center field to make it 7-1.

Evans kept on dominating the Nationals after getting that run support, as he retired Washington in order again in the seventh, and became the first Mariners starter this season to pitch into the eighth inning. He walked off the field to a standing ovation from the crowd of 19,861 fans after a scoreless eighth inning, having allowed one run on just four hits with four strikeouts and one walk on 88 pitches.

The most recent Mariners pitcher to throw into the eighth inning was Logan Gilbert, who did so on Sept. 7 last season in a 2-0 loss against St. Louis.

The Mariners scored two more runs in the eighth inning. Williamson scored on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice grounder from Randy Arozarena, and Garcia threw the ball away while attempting to complete a double play, which scored J.P. Crawford and allowed Arozarena to advance to second.

Eduard Bazardo pitched a perfect ninth for Seattle to finish off the win, which kept the Mariners a game ahead of the Houston Astros in the AL West standings.

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