Toronto Blue Jays Glad To See Rival Slugger Go After Latest Beatdown
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It was a rough weekend for the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. After beating the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in Friday's series opener, they dropped back-to-back games to lose the series, getting outscored 16-7.
One of the main reasons for their frustrating weekend slide was their inability to get Cal Raleigh out.
The Mariners slugger torched the Blue Jays' pitching staff over the weekend, going 3-for-8 with a double, a homer, four RBI and three walks on Saturday and Sunday after having a relatively quiet game on Friday (1-for-4, two strikeouts).
Raleigh paced Seattle's 8-4 extra-innings win on Saturday, reaching base five times, driving in two runs on a go-ahead double and scoring one. He was constantly on base, recording two hits and three walks.
The star catcher picked up where he left off on Sunday, smashing a two-run homer off Easton Lucas in the top of the first and propelling the Mariners to an 8-3 victory.
Cannot remember a Mariners player who has owned an opponent to the degree that Cal Raleigh owns the Blue Jays.
— Mariner Muse (@MarinerMuse) April 20, 2025
Seager in Texas maybe? pic.twitter.com/cfWTNxOqYQ
Toronto fans will be glad to see Raleigh leave town, as he's consistently killed the Blue Jays throughout his career. In 21 games against them, he's batting .286/.349/.701 with 10 homers and 20 RBI -- his second-most homers against any opponent after the Athletics (12).
That's impressive considering the two teams play in different divisions, so they don't face each other very often.
Raleigh has especially enjoyed playing at Rogers Centre, where he's hit like Babe Ruth. In 11 games there, he has seven homers, 14 RBI and a .262/.340/.786 batting line.
Fortunately for Toronto, it won't see Raleigh again for a while. The two teams won't square off again until the Blue Jays visit Seattle during the weekend of May 9-11, which will be the last time they face each other during the regular season.
Hopefully they don't meet in the postseason, however, because Raleigh will likely be a problem.
