Cal Raleigh homered for a third consecutive game since switching to a “torpedo” bat as the host Seattle Mariners completed a three-game sweep of the American League West rival Texas Rangers with a 3-1 victory Sunday afternoon.
The Mariners won their fourth consecutive game and went 5-1 on a six-game homestand against division rivals Houston and Texas. They beat the Rangers for the 16th time in the past 20 meetings.
Mariners ace Logan Gilbert (1-1) earned his first win of the season. The right-hander allowed one run on three hits over five innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Seattle reliever Andres Munoz struck out a pair in the ninth to earn his sixth save.
Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (1-2) took the loss. He gave up three runs – two earned on five hits in five-plus innings, with no walks and three strikeouts.
Raleigh gave the Mariners the lead with a two-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole in the first inning. It came after Jorge Polanco lined a one-out single to left field.
The Rangers cut their deficit in half as Dustin Harris led off the second inning with a homer to center.
The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth. Julio Rodriguez led off with a liner to center for a single. Polanco hit a chopper down the first-base line that Jake Burger fielded and went for a tag. But Polanco spun out of the way of the Burger’s glove and was called safe, a ruling that was upheld by a video review despite Rangers manager Bruce Bochy’s assertion Polanco left the baseline.
Raleigh and Randy Arozarena were both hit by pitches, bringing in a run. Bochy brought in lefty Hoby Milner with the bases loaded and no outs and he got out of the jam, getting Luke Raley to ground into a forceout at the plate and striking out pinch-hitter Donovan Solano and Miles Mastrobuoni.
