Mariners 9, Cubs 4: Cal Raleigh destroys the Cubs pitching staff

The Mariners catcher showed why he’s a possible MVP candidate.

I don’t usually put photos of the Cubs’ opponent as the lead on game recaps or mention them in the headline but, well, Cal Raleigh is the story of the Mariners’ 9-4 win over the Cubs. He homered twice, walked to key another Seattle rally and singled to start their three-run ninth that put the game away.

This game wasn’t all bad news, though. Let’s start at the beginning.

With two out in the top of the first, Raleigh hit his first homer of the game, his 28th.

The Cubs got that run back and more in the bottom of the inning. Ian Happ led off the first with a home run, his second in as many days [VIDEO].

Kyle Tucker singled and Seiya Suzuki doubled him to third and it looked like the Cubs might have a big inning against George Kirby. The next two Cubs were routine outs, but Michael Busch then singled in both runners [VIDEO].

The Mariners closed to within 3-2 in the fourth. Raleigh walked with one out and Matthew Boyd got himself in trouble with another walk after two were out. A single by Donovan Solano scored the run.

In the top of the fifth, Boyd made this spectacular catch of a line drive to end the inning [VIDEO].

Boyd left the game after that and my friends, I cannot tell you how ridiculous the level of vitriol was toward Craig Counsell for taking Boyd out after 76 pitches. There had to have been an explanation, and sure enough:

So… of course there was a logical reason for Boyd coming out.

The Cubs got one run back in the bottom of the fifth on a home run by Reese McGuire to make it 4-2.

Now here’s where I tell you that, as you know, the Cubs bullpen has been just outstanding almost all year. You knew there would come times when they wouldn’t be, and this game was one of those times. Ryan Pressly retired the first two hitters he faced and then allowed four straight baserunners, including a home run by Mitch Garver that tied the game 4-4. That inning had shades of Pressly’s awful inning against the Giants last month.

Then Caleb Thielbar, who’s been so good lately, entered and Raleigh hit a two-run homer off him. That’s 29 homers for Raleigh, and in so doing he passed Johnny Bench (28 in 1970) for most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break — and we still have several weeks before the break.

At 6-4 the game might still have been winnable in the bottom of the ninth, but Génesis Cabrera had a bad inning. After retiring the first two Mariners, he allowed a pair of singles and then Garver hit his second homer of the game and that, as they say, was that. Oh, and Garver? He came into this game hitting .205 with one home run in 112 at-bats.

In fact, I suspect that’s going to be that for Cabrera, who threw 31 pitches Friday after 25 on Thursday and who now has a 9.64 ERA in 9⅓ innings as a Cub with four home runs allowed. It was a reasonable experiment to try Cabrera, but… I think this one’s over. I suspect he’ll be DFA tomorrow and the Cubs will recall either Gavin Hollowell or Tom Cosgrove, both of whom have options. Then whoever they recall will go back to Triple-A Iowa when Shōta Imanaga is activated from his rehab assignment, hopefully next week. Imanaga is expected to throw for Iowa tonight.

I’ve got just one JohnW53 fact for you for this recap, mentioned on the Marquee broadcast:

Until today, the Cubs had won 29 consecutive games in which they had led by at least two runs at any point.

Welp. Start another such streak tomorrow!

Here’s more from Craig Counsell on Boyd’s shoulder and other postgame comments [VIDEO].

One last note: Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since he was allowed back into the franchise’s good graces. Here’s how he was welcomed back [VIDEO].

The second game of this series takes place Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Cade Horton will start for the Cubs and Emerson Hancock will go for Seattle. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.