Cal Raleigh hit his major-league-leading 54th home run of the season, tying Mickey Mantle’s record for a switch-hitter set in 1961, as the Seattle Mariners took sole possession of first place in the American League West with an 11-2 victory against the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon.
Jorge Polanco tied a franchise record with three doubles and Julio Rodriguez added two more with two runs and two RBIs as the Mariners (82-68) won their ninth game in a row.
Mariners starter George Kirby (9-7) gave up two runs on three hits over 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander didn’t walk a batter and tied his career high with 14 strikeouts.
Kirby retired the first 13 batters he faced before Christian Moore homered to deep left-center with one out in the fifth for the Angels (69-81), who lost their fourth straight. Pinch-hitter Oswald Peraza went deep an inning later.
Randy Arozarena led off the bottom of the first with a single and Raleigh hit the next pitch from Kyle Hendricks (7-10), a sinker on the outside corner, 409 feet into the Seattle bullpen in left-center field.
The Mariners added three runs in the third and six more in the fourth to pull away.
Raleigh led off the third with an infield single and Rodriguez followed with a run-scoring double to left-center. Rodriguez stole third and Josh Naylor lifted a sacrifice fly to center. Polanco doubled to left and Dominic Canzone lined a two-out single to right to make it 5-0.
Rodriguez hit a run-scoring double to left in the fourth after a single by J.P. Crawford and a one-out walk to Raleigh. Naylor grounded a two-run single to right before Polanco greeted reliever Connor Brogdon with a double to left. With two outs, Canzone lined a two-run single to center and Crawford doubled to center to make it 11-0 after a Leo Rivas walk.
Hendricks gave up nine runs on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings, with two walks and six strikeouts.
