The 12-pitch saga that may have saved Cal Raleigh's season for Mariners
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Cal Raleigh's early season had been defined by struggle.
It was hard to know whether the Seattle Mariners catcher could possibly find a breakthrough against Texas Rangers star Jacob deGrom.
But on Monday night, Raleigh put on his hard hat and battled.
In his first at bat of the game, Raleigh fell behind 0-2. He then worked the count to 3-2, fouling off six pitches along the way.
On the 12th pitch of the at bat, Raleigh got a fastball in a hittable location. And yeah, he hit it.
The 99 mile per hour fastball went soaring out of the ballpark for Raleigh's first home run of the season.
CAL RALEIGH HOME RUN OFF JACOB DEGROM 😱
— js9innings (@js9inningsmedia) April 7, 2026
FIRST HOME RUN OF THE YEAR FOR CAL 💣 pic.twitter.com/dJFZb2T2IK
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So far in 2026, Raleigh had been defined by whiffs. He was swinging-and-missing at an alarming rate.
This at bat was encouraging in that regard, since he kept getting a piece of the baseball to stay alive.
"Just trying to put the bat on the ball there and fight, don't punch out," Raleigh said after the game, via the Associated Press. "I was able to have a pretty long at-bat, saw some good pitches and put a good swing on that last one."
The AP added that "it was both the most pitches ever delivered to Raleigh in a plate appearance ending in a hit and the most pitches ever thrown by deGrom during an at-bat ending in a hit."
Mariners manager Dan Wilson called it "an incredible at bat."
It's the kind of trip to the plate that can turn a season around. If Raleigh can do that against deGrom, he can do it against anyone.
Raleigh had gone the first 10 games of the season without a homer. That was already a longer drought than he had last season (eight games) at any point en route to 60 home runs.
It'll be tough to repeat 60 homers this season, but Raleigh is now on the board.
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