The Seattle Mariners were crowned kings of the American League West on Wednesday night as catcher Cal Raleigh hit his 59th and 60th home runs of the season.

The mighty Mariners, who mashed five solo home runs at raucous T-Mobile Park, clinched their title by drubbing Major League Baseball’s doormat, aka the Colorado Rockies, 9-2.

The Mariners, who won their first division title since 2001, are 16-1 over their last 17 games.

Raleigh’s 59th homer came off Rockies starter Tanner Gordon in the first inning. The switch-hitter’s 60th came in the eighth off right-handed reliever Angel Chivilli, making Raleigh one of just seven players to hit 60 or more home runs in a season.

Colorado’s best player this season is catcher Hunter Goodman, who’s hit 30 homers. That makes Raleigh’s accomplishment even more impressive.

“It’s incredible,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters in Seattle. “Because you know that ‘Goody’s’ had a good year and he’s hit 30. (Raleigh has hit) double the amount that Goody has. That’s hard to fathom … especially from the catcher position — which is a grind. Hats off to Cal Raleigh.”

Raleigh is now just two homers from the AL single-season record of 62 home runs, set by Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in 2022. Raleigh has 11 multi-homer games this season, tied for the MLB single-season record, with Judge (2022), Sammy Sosa (1998) and Hank Greenberg (1938).

Raleigh’s historic night overshadowed starter Luis Castillo’s near-perfect night. Over 7 1/3 innings, the Seattle right-hander allowed one run on one hit, struck out 10, and walked none. He made the Rockies look helpless.

The one hit Castillo allowed was a two-out solo homer to Blaine Crim in the fourth. When Castillo departed the mound, the partying crowd gave him a prolonged standing ovation.

The Rockies, who have not won back-to-back games since Aug. 18, slid to 43-115. Their run differential stands at an astronomical minus-412 with four games remaining in their season.  The Rockies own the worst run differential in a season since 1901, obliterating the 1932 Red Sox’s mark of minus-349 differential.

The seventh-inning home run by Eugenio Suárez was the 1,000th run the Rockies have allowed this season, making them the 12th team in modern era to allow 1,000 runs in a season. The last team to do it was the Rockies, who allowed 1,028 runs in 1999.

Gordon’s final start of the season was a dud. The right-hander pitched just 3 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs (five earned) on eight hits.

Three of those hits were solo home runs, and they all came in the first inning. Raleigh started it off with a 438-foot blast to the third deck in right field. Julio Rodriguez immediately followed with a 422-foot shot to left field, his 32nd. Next up, Jorge Polanco, who hit a two-out, 360-foot homer down the right-field line, his 25th.

Gordon had flashed promise in his previous seven starts (five quality), going 4-2 with a 3.96 ERA. But the powerful Mariners punished Gordon, and he finished his season 6-8 with a 6.33 ERA.

Thursday’s pitching matchup

Rockies RHP Bradley Blalock (2-5, 9-16 ERA) at Mariners TBA

7:40 p.m. Thursday, T-Mobile Park

TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM

Trending: Entering Wednesday night’s game at Seattle, first baseman Blaine Crim had hit safely in nine of his first 10 games with the Rockies, batting 10-for-34 (.294) with four home runs and 11 RBIs. Crim’s 11 RBIs are the third-most in franchise history through a player’s first 10 games with the club, trailing Andres Galarraga (14 RBIs, 1993) and Trevor Story (13 RBIs, 2016). Crim, Story, Miguel Olivo (2010), and Ellis Burks (1994) are the only players in franchise history with at least 10 hits and four home runs through their first 10 games with the club.

Pitching probables

Friday: Rockies RHP German Marquez (3-15, 6.49) at Giants Kai-Wei Teng, (2-4, 6.37), 8:15 p.m.

Saturday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (5-16, 5.00) at Giants RHP Trevor McDonald (0-0, 3.38), 2:05 p.m.

— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post

Originally Published: September 24, 2025 at 10:55 PM MDT