Cal Raleigh made MLB history and Luis Castillo put together his best outing of the season to clinch the first division title in a generation for the Mariners
SEATTLE — Entering Wednesday, an entire generation had gone without seeing the Seattle Mariners win the American League West. During that time, the division banners hanging in the rafters, the last one from 2001, loomed like a permanent dark cloud over the organization.
That 2001 banner had been the source of criticism, taunting, debate, reminiscence and everything in between in the last 24 years of Mariners history.
On Wednesday, the Mariners parted that dark cloud.
Seattle beat the Colorado Rockies 9-2 on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park and secured an AL West championship for the first time since '01 in front of nearly 43,000 (43,883) Mariners fans.
"To win the West here, in front of your home fans, there's nothing better," Seattle manager Dan Wilson, a player on the last M's team to win the division, said after the game. "And then to come in here (in the clubhouse) and celebrate with each other, there's nothing better. I feel a lot of gratitude, a lot of joy for these guys and how hard they've worked, how hard they've played all season long. ... These guys have continued to fight all the way through. We've talked about it. This is why we do it right here."
Tuesday's game against the Rockies, in which the Mariners came back from being down 3-1 to win 4-3 and clinch a playoff berth, came down to the final inning. Seattle didn't let that be the case Wednesday.
The Mariners came out the gate and hit three solo home runs in the bottom of the first inning. Catcher Cal Raleigh, center fielder Julio Rodriguez and second baseman Jorge Polanco accounted for the trio of homers.
Raleigh's homer was his major league-leading 59th of the season. Rodriguez's was his 32nd — which tied a single-season career-high.
Seattle, not willing to be denied its AL West crown, kept tacking on from there.
Raleigh hit a two-RBI double in the bottom of the second to bolster the Mariners' lead to 5-0.
Left fielder Randy Arozarena brought home right fielder Victor Robles with an RBI sacrifice fly and first baseman Josh Naylor hit an RBI single, both in the bottom of the fourth.
The Mariners tacked on one run apiece in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.
The seventh-inning score was a solo home run hit by third baseman Eugenio Suarez.
In the ninth inning, as he has done the entire season for Seattle, Raleigh made history.
He hit his second home run of the game and his 60th of the season — a solo shot to right field. He became the fourth player in American League history to hit 60 homers in a single season, and is two away from tying the record of 62 set by New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.
It was also Raleigh's 11th multi-homer game of the season, which tied an MLB record. Raleigh's history-making blast bolstered the Mariners lead to 9-1. Raleigh took a curtain call after his 60th homer.
"It was special," Raleigh said after the game. " ... To do it in this fashion, on this night, in front of these fans, mom and dad here, was really cool. ... Super excited. Just really proud of the guys here. Twenty-plus years since we've done something like this. It's special."
Coinciding with the lineup's dominant night at the plate was a season-best performance from Seattle starting pitcher Luis Castillo.
The three-time All-Star struck out a season-high 10 batters in 7.1 innings pitched. He allowed one earned run on one hit — a solo homer hit by Colorado designated hitter Blaine Crim in the top of the fourth.
The Rockies mustered one more run — an RBI groundout hit by Colorado catcher Hunter Goodman in the top of the ninth that brought home second baseman Orlando Arcia — for the eventual final of 9-2.
The Mariners improved to 89-69 with the victory. They occupy the No. 2 seed in the AL by three games over the Cleveland Guardians.
If Seattle finishes the season as a top-two seed, it will earn a bye through the wild card round of the playoffs.
"We haven't won the AL West in so long," M's outfielder Dominic Canzone said in a postgame interview. "The fans deserve it. We've been playing for them all year. Just being able to get that done with four games left is special."
The Mariners will look to continue their hold of a top seed in the series finale against the Rockies at 6:40 p.m. PT on Thursday. Bradley Blalock will start for Colorado against a to-be-determined Seattle pitcher.
RELATED MARINERS STORIES
FORMER SEAHAWKS RECEIVER COMPLIMENT CURRENT M'S SQUAD: The former NFL veteran, current news host and O'Dea (Seattle) alum was at T-Mobile Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for his hometown Mariners. CLICK HERE
MARINERS RELIEVER SUPPORTS NEW ABS SYSTEM: The MLB will start implementing the ABS system in the Major Leagues in 2026, and one Mariners reliever is a fan. CLICK HERE
LAZARO MONTES PRAISES TOP MARINERS PROSPECT: One of the top prospects in the organization complimented one of his teammates and fellow elite minor leaguer. CLICK HERE
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!