Cal Raleigh broke Mickey Mantle’s record for homers by a switch-hitter and tied the Mariners record set by Ken Griffey Jr. when the Seattle star hit his 55th and 56th of the season in consecutive at-bats against the Royals on Tuesday night.
Raleigh doubled in his first at-bat on a hot, humid night in Kansas City. He came up again in the third inning and, batting left-handed against Michael Wacha, fouled off a changeup and took a sinker for a ball before Raleigh sent a hanging curveball 419 feet over the right-field fence for his 55th home run of the season.
That broke the switch-hitter mark set by the Yankees star in 1961, which Raliegh had tied against the Angels on Sunday.
The All-Star catcher was back up in the fourth inning Tuesday night. This time, batting right-handed against left-hander Daniel Lynch IV, Raleigh sent the first pitch he saw 425 feet to straightaway center for his 56th homer.
Griffey set the Mariners record when he hit 56 homers during the 1997 season and matched the mark the following year.
After both of the home runs, Raleigh got a standing ovation from a small group of Mariners fans behind the visiting dugout at Kauffman Stadium. Many Royals fans, who had turned out to watch a club fading from playoff contention, also applauded the home runs. It was Raleigh’s 20th career multi-homer game and his 10th this season.
There have only been nine 60-homer seasons in the majors. Aaron Judge had the last when he hit 62 for the Yankees in 2022.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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