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Cal Raleigh Closing in on Barry Bonds Midseason Record After Two-Homer Game

The Big Dumper now has 38 home runs before the All-Star break.

Blake Silverman

Cal Raleigh hit two balls out of the park against the Detroit Tigers Friday
Cal Raleigh hit two balls out of the park against the Detroit Tigers Friday / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
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Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is on a tear like none other. It's almost weird to watch a Mariners game where he doesn't hit a home run.

Although he didn't go yard until late in Seattle's 12–3 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park Friday evening, he ended the night with two home runs for 38 total thus far on the season. And we haven't even hit the All-Star break yet.

The first came in the top of the eighth on a fly ball to left field that looked fairly effortless off the bat. It ended up clearing the wall for a solo shot that gave the Mariners an insurance run in a tight game.

Seattle opened the game up in the ninth, highlighted by a no-doubter off Raleigh's bat to deep left. This time, a grand slam became his 38th long ball of the year.

With the two-homer game, Raleigh moved one home run shy of San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds's record 39 home runs before the break, which he set in 2001. Per the Mariners, Raleigh became the first player with 38 or more homers and 80 or more RBIs before the All-Star Game since 1933—the same year the first All-Star Game was played.

Bonds hit 73 homers once his record-setting '01 campaign was all said and done, which remains the record for the most in an MLB season. Raleigh has the rest of the series in Detroit, two more contests, to potentially tie and pass Bonds for the most long balls before an All-Star break.

He's set to participate in the Home Run Derby in Georgia Monday before he starts at catcher for the American League in the All-Star Game.

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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.

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