Cal Raleigh says Mariners' closer was tipping pitches during Yankees' comeback

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Jul 11, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — The Yankees had a bead on Seattle Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz.

That’s according to M’s catcher Cal Raleigh, who believes Muñoz was tipping pitches during the ninth inning of the Yankees’ come-from-behind 6-5 win on Thursday night.

“He was tipping it every time at second base,” Raleigh said afterward. “Obviously, they weren’t making it very discreet, I guess is the word. But it is part of the game, and it’s our job that we should have known about that going into the series. That made it really hard there at the end.”

Yankees baserunners Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger appeared to wave their hands from second base when Muñoz would throw a slider.

Ben Rice laid off a 3-2 slider that was well outside of the strike zone to walk and load the bases with two outs. Austin Wells similarly took a 2-0 slider before lining a fastball into right field for a two-run single that tied the game.

“You try to do as much as you can without trying to distract him from what is happening at the plate,” Raleigh said. “That’s something that we will have to figure out in the next couple of days for sure.”

Mariners starter Bryan Woo held the Yankees hitless through seven innings, but the Yankees erupted for three runs against Woo and reliever Matt Brash in the eighth, cutting their deficit to 5-3.

That remained the score going into the ninth, when Muñoz — a flame-throwing right-hander who was selected for the All-Star Game — entered the game with a 1.06 ERA.

The Yankees tagged Muñoz for two runs on three hits and a walk to force extra innings, where Aaron Judge delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th.

Asked Friday who noticed Muñoz’s tell, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said with a smile, “I don’t know anything about that.”

Muñoz did not speak to reporters after the loss, while Mariners manager Dan Wilson said he did not believe his closer was tipping pitches.

“I think we just got ourselves into some tough counts and they were able to take advantage of it,” Wilson said.

It was Muñoz’s sixth blown save in 27 opportunities.

The comeback capped a three-game sweep by the Yankees in a series headlined by baseball’s two biggest power threats. Raleigh hit his MLB-leading 36th home run in Tuesday night’s series opener, a half-inning after Judge struck his 34th.