Mariners complete strong weekend led by Raleigh

CHICAGO (AP) — Cal Raleigh broke Johnny Bench's record for home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, hitting his major league-leading 28th and 29th in the Seattle Mariners' 9-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

Raleigh broke a tie in the seventh with No. 29 to move ahead of Hall of Famer Bench's 1970 mark. Raleigh needed only 73 games to break the record that Bench set in 87 games. The Seattle star shattered the mark with 22 games to spare before the All-Star game. Barry Bonds holds the overall record with 39 for San Francisco in 2001.

Raleigh had three hits in his sixth multi-homer game of the season. The 28-year-old slugger drove in three runs to push his season total to 63.

Mitch Garver also homered twice and drove in five runs, putting it away with a three-run shot in the ninth. Randy Arozarena and Donovan Solano each had three hits to help Seattle win for the fifth time in seven games.

Raleigh and Garver are the first pair of primary catchers for a team to each homer twice since Joe Ferguson and Steve Yeager did it for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 1979 home victory over Houston.

The teams combined for six homers with the wind blowing out on a warm day when former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in over 20 years.

Ian Happ homered in Chicago’s three-run first inning, and Reese McGuire added a solo shot. Michael Busch had three hits and two RBIs as the NL Central-leading Cubs dropped their second straight.

Raleigh hit his go-ahead drive to the back of the left-field bleachers off Caleb Thielbar (2-2). Raleigh sent his first homer just over the basket in the first off Matthew Boyd.

Eduard Bazardo (2-0) pitched a scoreless sixth for the win.

Boyd made a dramatic catch of J.P. Crawford’s comebacker for the final out in the top of the fifth. Boyd snared the liner at the last instant as it was headed for his face.

Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong popped out softly three times and struck out a day after going deep and becoming the first player with 20 homers and 20 steals this season.

Saturday's Game:

 Ian Happ homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Chicago Cubs held off Cal Raleigh and the Seattle Mariners for a 10-7 victory on Saturday.

Raleigh opened the ninth inning with his major league-leading 30th homer after he also went deep twice on Friday. Luke Raley hit a two-out single for Seattle, but Daniel Palencia closed it out when he retired Donovan Solano on a foul popup.

Michael Busch, Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong also homered for Chicago on a 94-degree day at Wrigley Field with a 20-mph wind blowing toward center field. Brad Keller (3-0) got five outs for the win for the NL Central leaders.

Solano and Raley each had three hits and two RBIs for Seattle, which won 9-4 in the series opener on Friday.

Happ drove Emerson Hancock's first pitch of the game over the wall in left-center for his 10th homer. Tucker went deep on Hancock's third pitch for his first homer since June 9 and No. 14 on the year.

Happ became the first player to hit a leadoff homer for the Cubs in consecutive games since Anthony Rizzo in June 2017.

Happ added a three-run shot in the second, lifting Chicago to a 6-1 lead. He has four homers in his last three games.

Busch hit a three-run homer in the third, and Crow-Armstrong connected for a solo shot in the fifth against Zach Pop. It was Crow-Armstrong's team-high 21st homer.

Hancock (3-3) was tagged for nine runs in four innings.

The Mariners cut it to 9-6 in the fifth, scoring three unearned runs following Vidal Bruján’s throwing error on Randy Arozarena’s grounder.

Home plate umpire Chad Whitson left after five innings. The game continued with Dexter Kelley behind the plate.

Seattle reliever Trent Thornton wobbled on the mound with one out in the eighth. He was helped off by training staff.

Keller entered two runners on and none out in the sixth, then struck out the side.

Happ has two multihomer games this season and 17 for his career.

Sunday's Game:

Donovan Solano homered twice and drove in five runs, helping the Seattle Mariners outslug the Chicago Cubs for a 14-6 victory Sunday.

Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 31st homer for Seattle on a hot and windy afternoon at Wrigley Field. Dominic Canzone went deep twice as the Mariners won the rubber game of a weekend set that featured a total of 21 homers for the two teams.

Raleigh connected in the first inning against Colin Rea (4-3). The two-run drive to center field was his fourth homer of the series.

Seiya Suzuki homered twice and drove in three runs for the Cubs in their third loss in four games. Kyle Tucker and Reese McGuire also went deep for the NL Central leaders.

Chicago trimmed Seattle's lead to 5-4 when Suzuki hit a two-run shot off Logan Gilbert (2-2) with two down in the fifth. It was Suzuki's 20th homer of the season.

Seattle responded with two runs in the sixth. Canzone hit his second solo homer of the day, and Julio Rodríguez added a run-scoring groundout.

Solano made it 9-4 with a two-run shot off Chris Flexen in the seventh. Solano went 9 for 14 in the series with eight RBIs.

Seattle put away the game with five runs in the eighth against Nate Pearson. Randy Arozarena hit a two-run double and Solano capped the scoring with a two-run single.

The Mariners improved to 9-3 in rubber games this season.

Mariners RHP Bryan Woo (6-4, 3.12 ERA) starts Monday night in the opener of a four-game series at Minnesota. RHP Bailey Ober (4-4, 4.54) goes for the Twins.

    Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh hits a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Friday, June 20, 2025, in Chicago.