Mariners and Cal Raleigh only just warming up after AL West win

The Seattle Mariners beat the Rockies 9-2 and Cal Raleigh hits 60 homers, with anything now seeming possible for this special team.

Seattle Mariners fans have suffered more than most during the 49 years of their beloved team’s existence. They are the only one of the 30 Major League teams never to play in the World Series, and entered this season with just three division titles and five playoff appearances in franchise history.

Well the past is just that – the past. This is a new year, a new team and new expectations after a 9-2 win versus the Colorado Rockies, on a night when it now seems like anything is genuinely possible for the Mariners.

One day after securing their sixth ever playoff appearance, the Mariners won their first AL West division title since all the way back in 2001. And into the bargain Cal Raleigh hit his 59th and 60th home runs of an AL MVP-worthy campaign.

As has been the case so often this season, Cal Raleigh lit the fuse that would ultimately set the Mariners up for a win, with his first home run giving them a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. And his 59th blast was an explosive thing of beauty, as he launched it into the upper deck of right field.

Cal Raleigh does it with number 60

The 2025 All-Star added a two-RBI double an inning later to increase the M’s lead to 5-0, but there was still more to come with a moment which almost felt inevitable given the energy within the building throughout the night. That moment came in the bottom of the eight when he entered exalted company with a solo bomb for number 60, which made it 9-1 to the good guys.

Raleigh becomes just the seventh player in Major League history to reach 60 home runs, which seems barely believable to even write. In the AL specifically he is one of just four players, and the first non-Yankee.

The 28-year-old’s teammates are in awe of what he’s achieved this season, while also loving it’s him who is having this success. This speaks volumes about how he is perceived in the organization and as per Tim Booth of The Seattle Times, Mitch Garver said:

“It’s been an absolute joy to watch and play alongside of him. One of the best seasons I’ve ever witnessed.”

As for Raleigh himself, he thoroughly enjoyed his curtain call after hitting number 60, helped immensely by his parents being in the ballpark. He said:

“It was special. That definitely was the coolest one, for sure. They were all great, don’t get me wrong. But to do it and in this fashion, on this night for these fans, mom and dad here, obviously was really cool.”

Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess, but now Raleigh has four games left to take aim and at least equal Aaron Judge’s AL record 62 home runs, which was set in 2022. For what’s worth in how it might play out, his brace on Wednesday night equalled a Major League record of 11 multi-homer games in a season, alluding to his potential to bust out.

Mariners might just end up with top spot in the AL

As for the Mariners as a whole, never mind the second seed – now they are just one game behind both the Blue Jays and Yankees for the top overall seed in the AL. Not that this pursuit is without obstacles, specifically that both teams have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the M’s.

This is all truly, truly astounding stuff though and the 42,883 fans in attendance at T-Mobile Park must almost find it all too good to be true. However, after years of repeated heartbreak and failure, this is now a Mariners team primed, as Raleigh said a night earlier, to go and win the whole f—ing thing.

Raleigh and M’s manager Dan Wilson were both understandably emotional when speaking to the crowd after the game. This Mariners team and the city of Seattle mean so much to the two classy gentlemen and no one deserves success more than them with all the blood, sweat and tears they have invested in the organization.

Wilson admitted he was emotional before the game had even finished, with him fighting back tears in the ninth inning. As per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, he said:

“It just feels really good. You work hard all season long, and you get to this point, it’s just pure joy. You’ve been able to accomplish something that you wanted to accomplish while understanding that there’s still more ahead of us.”

Mariners go from unpredictable to almost unstoppable

After spending the majority of the 2025 campaign being frustratingly streaky and inconsistent, the Mariners have picked the ideal time to put it all together. With 16 wins in 17 games they are the hottest team in baseball and you can appreciate why FanGraphs gives them the best odds of winning the World Series.

As much as Raleigh deservedly gets the majority of individual headlines, Luis Castillo served warning to the rest of the league that he’s now back to his best. His past three starts were tremendous and he continued his impressive recent run on Tuesday night, by retiring 21 of the 22 batters he faced and only giving up a solo home run in the top of the fourth when the M’s were already leading 5-0.

Castillo also struck out 10 and in a classy and thoughtful move by Wilson, left the game to a thunderous applause after getting the first out in the top of the eighth. This is also just the second time in franchise history the Mariners have had five pitchers register a 10+ strikeout game in a season.

Another highlight was Jorge Polanco hitting his 25th home run in the bottom of the first. As a result, this is the first time the Mariners have had four players hit 25+ home runs in a season since 1997, and only the third time ever overall.

Julio Rodríguez also deserves a mention for equalling his career-high of 32 home runs in a season, with his own solo blast in the bottom of the first. And Eugenio Suárez hit his 48th homer of the season in the bottom of the seventh, to move to within one of his career high of 49 set in 2019.

We could probably go on and on, but what was most noticeable after the game was that while the team did celebrate it wasn’t all-out or over the top. This is a team thinking bigger things despite having already accomplished so much, and after everything the Mariners and their fans have endured though the decades, 2025 might be the year when it all finally comes together.

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Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rodgers Photography

Were you fortunate enough to be at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday night? If so, share your memories of the evening. Either way, what do you predict for Raleigh and the Mariners for the rest of the season? How does this all play out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.