Cal Raleigh is having a magical season for the Seattle Mariners. The catcher enters play on Friday leading all of baseball with 33 home runs, putting him on pace for the most home runs in a single season for a catcher in MLB history. He has already secured a starting spot in the All-Star Game, and the “Big Dumper” has already confirmed he will be in the Home Run Derby in Atlanta as well.
But a play at the plate in Seattle’s 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night left him scratching his head, as Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. flashed some magic of his own.
Seattle took a 1-0 lead to the top of the seventh against the Royals, but the visitors pushed across three runs in the inning to take the lead. The seventh started innocently enough when Freddy Fermin lined out to center, but walks to Kyle Isbel and Jonathan India brought Witt to the plate with a pair of runners aboard.
Seattle then turned to reliever Carlos Vargas in place of Casey Legumina, but Witt laced a single to center that brought Isbel home and tied the game at 1-1, while pushing India to third.
Witt then promptly stole second, giving Vinnie Pasquantino a pair of runners in scoring position. The first baseman then pulled a grounder through the right side that plated India with ease. The throw from right fielder Dominic Canzone, a two-hopper to Raleigh, beat Witt but that’s when the Royals shortstop delivered a magical slide to beat the tag:
That gave Kansas City a 3-1 lead, and that slide ended up being the difference as the Royals held on for the 3-2 win.
