Cal Raleigh homers again as Mariners sweep Rangers to reach .500

SEATTLE — Reeling just a week ago, the Seattle Mariners are headed back out on the road after a successful homestand and rediscovering the .500 mark.

And they did it by returning to the familiar blueprint of excellent pitching and receiving one big swing at the plate.

This time it was another Cal Raleigh homer with his newly-arrived torpedo bat that provided the punch in a 3-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

The Mariners finished off a 5-1 homestand with a sweep of the team expected to be one of the main challengers in the AL West race all season, and pulled Seattle level at 8-8 on the season with a nine-game road trip to Cincinnati, Toronto and Boston next on the agenda.

It also improved the M’s to 7-3 against AL West opponents so far this season. And while all those games were played at home, it’s still a meaningful start.

“It always means a little more in the division,” Raleigh said. “All games are important, don’t get me wrong. But teams that have won the division and gone on to do big things it’s always good to get W’s against those guys head-to-head and gives you a little more confidence going forward.”

Since the start of last season, the Mariners are now 13-3 against the Rangers.

Raleigh homered for his third straight game, all with the newly acquired torpedo bats that arrived just in time for Friday’s series opener. Raleigh’s two-run blast that night in the eighth inning was the game winner. On Saturday, his solo shot in the middle of the game provided a little cushion of what for the Mariners was a blowout 9-2 win.

And Sunday, Raleigh’s big swing came right away, with a two-run homer just inside the right field foul pole in the first inning off Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi.

“Whatever works. Whatever kind of bat,” Raleigh said.

It’s the third time in his career Raleigh homered in three straight games, accomplishing the feat twice last season.

The M’s needed the long ball because again runs were difficult to come by. Fortunately, Logan Gilbert and four relievers limited the Rangers to one run, four hits and five total base runners.

Gilbert’s outing followed a similar path as Bryce Miller on Friday night. Both labored to get through the first inning. Both eventually grinded their way through five innings and managed to limit any damage.

“Getting through five was big for him and for our club. Again, that just sets up the bullpen so much more nicely,” manager Dan Wilson said.

Gilbert struck out seven and moved past Erik Hanson into seventh place on the M’s all-time strikeout list. But this outing was neither efficient nor easy as he needed 26 pitches in the first inning and 94 to get through five. Gilbert (1-1) struggled early to get a good feel for his slider. He gave up a hit on his splitter for the first time this season when Jake Burger reached out and pulled a double just inside third base in the fifth inning. Burger ended up reaching third on a wild pitch but was stranded when Gilbert finished his day getting Joc Pederson to fly out to right field.

The only Texas run off Gilbert came in the second inning when Dustin Harris, making his first start of the season, hit a solo homer out to right-center. The long ball came one pitch after Harris hit a foul ball down the left-field line that Randy Arozarena appeared unable to find on the sunny afternoon and fell harmlessly in foul territory.

One pitch later, Harris was rounding the bases with his first hit of the season.

“I always want to go deeper. So that’s not great. But to keep it at one, I think it’s pretty good,” Gilbert said. “And the bullpen has just been so good. So many guys down there, lights out so far the whole season. So they picked me up big time. It’s awesome having them.”

The one run was all Texas would get. Gabe Speier, Carlos Vargas and Trent Thornton combined for three perfect innings before Andrés Muñoz picked up his sixth save in eight Seattle wins. J.P. Crawford handled Corey Seager’s hot one-hopper for the first out of the ninth. Josh Smith singled, but Muñoz struck out Adolis García and Josh Jung to end it.

Seattle’s bullpen had a 1.85 ERA and .584 OPS against during the homestand.

“Anytime you turn the ball over to them, you know, feel like you got a really good chance,” Gilbert said.

The M’s had a chance to make it a more relaxing afternoon at the park but missed out on the chance at a big inning in the sixth despite adding a run in unusual fashion. Julio Rodríguez led off with a single and Jorge Polanco reached when he was able to elude the tag attempt from Jake Burger while staying within the width of the runners’ lane.

Burger was charged with an error and Eovaldi hit back-to-back batters on two-strike pitches. Eovaldi’s 1-2 curveball clipped the back foot of Raleigh and a batter later his 2-2 fastball tailed inside and caught the forearm of Arozarena to drive in a run.

But that was all the Mariners would get from the bases-loaded, no-outs situation. Luke Raley hit into a fielders choice with Polanco out at the plate, and Donovan Solano and Miles Mastrobuoni struck out.

Fortunately for Seattle, three runs proved to be enough again.

“Whatever uniform is on the other side we’re going to play our brand of baseball and we like our chances when we do and when we execute. That’s what we’re looking to continue to do,” Wilson said.

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