Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners clubbed his 55th home run Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals to surpass Mickey Mantle’s single-season record for homers by a switch hitter.
Leading off the third inning, with the visiting Mariners leading 3-0, Raleigh crushed a Michael Wacha pitch that stayed fair into the right field seats for his milestone home run. Raleigh is now one homer shy of matching Ken Griffey Jr.’s club record set in 1997, and equaled in ‘98.
Raleigh also doubled and scored in the first inning Tuesday.
A first-time All-Star this year, Raleigh leads the major leagues in home runs and paces the American League in RBIs with 116, counting Tuesday’s homer. Earlier this year, he set the single-season record for home runs by a full-time catcher, previously held by Salvador Perez of the Royals (48).
The Mariners led the Houston Astros by a half-game in the American League West entering Tuesday’s games.
