Cal Raleigh's Go-Ahead Homer Lifts Seattle Mariners to 3-2 Win Over Tampa Bay Rays

SEATTLE — For seven innings, the 39,780 Seattle Mariners fans in attendance didn't have much to cheer for on Friday at T-Mobile Park. That changed with one swing.

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit a go-ahead, two-out, three-run homer to center field in the bottom of the eighth that resulted in a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Rays.

J.P. Crawford and Cole Young hit back-to-back one-out singles to set Raleigh up for the scoring opportunity.

Raleigh, as he has been for most of the season after a trip around the bases, was greeted with "MVP" chants from the fans when he returned to the dugout.

"We had a lot of fans tonight, so that was awesome," Raleigh said after the game. " ... I am a human, I do hear (the chants). But yeah, I'm just trying to focus on the task at hand. ... I was just so excited I really didn't hear them (while I was running the bases). I was just pumped up. That was a sweet go-ahead homer. Big spot. Those are the games you look back on at the end of the year, you're like 'that was a big one.'"

GOODBYE BASEBALL. HELLO LEAD! pic.twitter.com/DtfjhpygNV
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 9, 2025

Seattle improved to 64-53 in the win, and didn't lose ground in the American League playoff picture. The M's remained 1.5 games behind the Houston Astros for first in the AL West, one game behind the Boston Red Sox for the top Wild Card spot and 2.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for the second Wild Card spot.

Tampa Bay held the advantage for most of the game due to a pair of solo home runs from its corner infielders.

First baseman Brandon Lowe hit his solo home run to right field in the top of the first. His blast came one pitch after he was originally ruled out on a fly ball seemingly caught by Mariners right fielder Dominic Canzone in foul territory.

Canzone caught the ball with his bare hand after it seemingly popped out of his glove. The Rays challenged and it was ruled the ball bounced off the wall after replay.

Dominic Canzone, extra style points.

On the heels of his walk-off yesterday, he makes an impressive catch in foul territory with his bare hand after it caromed off his glove -- but a Rays challenge also shows that it hit off the wall, so it’s instead a foul ball. pic.twitter.com/owntmJxef5
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) August 9, 2025

The second homer allowed by Castillo was to Rays third baseman Junior Caminero.

In the top of the sixth, Caminero hit a solo shot to left field that had little distance from the foul pole. The visitors took a 2-0 lead with that homer.

Cami is inevitable pic.twitter.com/Oe5gY8ZHWO
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 9, 2025

Castillo still finished with a quality start. He struck out five and allowed five hits, including the two home runs, in seven innings. He threw 99 pitches.

Those seven innings were crucial for Seattle.

The Mariners used all but one reliever in their 11-inning victory against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, and a deep outing was needed from the three-time All-Star.

He delivered, and was able to turn the game over the Carlos Vargas in the eighth.

"For me, in between innings, I kind of realized my (pitch) count went up with very few innings," Castillo said in a postgame interview via translator Freddy Llanos. "So, when I was in the dugout, I just kind of made that mentality switch of being a little more effective, being a little more fast-paced, not giving the batters as much time to think when we're out there."

Vargas did his part and retired the side in order, and eventually earned the win.

Matt Brash entered the ninth after Raleigh's go-ahead homer. He struck out the side in order to earn his second save of the season in as many opportunities and the sixth of his career. Brash worked around a 3-0 count to Caminero in the second at-bat of the inning and a seven-pitch at-bat to Josh Lowe to clinch the win.

"(Brash has) been really good all year," Raleigh said. "Credit to him, because it's tough, that first year coming off Tommy John. He's done a really good job, and tonight he was really good. He's using all his pitches — sinker, (four-seam), sweeper and changeup. Was able to keep them off-balance."

Comeback complete. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/63DunKQcil
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 9, 2025

Seattle will try and clinch its third consecutive series win in Game 2 against Tampa Bay at 6:40 p.m. PT on Saturday. Logan Evans will start for the Mariners and Joe Boyle will start for the Rays.

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