Cal Raleigh, the catcher for the Seattle Mariners, has been on a bit of a slump lately. He's been struggling to get hits, with an 0-for-38 streak that dated back to April 27th. But on Tuesday night, he snapped that slump with a scorching single into the right-center gap. It was a big moment for the team, as they were celebrating a runaway, 10-2 win over the Houston Astros. Raleigh's knock snapped an 0-for-38 streak that was approaching the longest skid in franchise history. The unflattering high is 42 straight at-bats without a hit, by the man who coined Raleigh's nickname that's now mainstream -- Jarred Kelenic, who went 0-for-42 during his rookie season in 2021. Raleigh's moment was so momentous that Bryan Woo waved towels at him after he scored on an RBI double from Randy Arozarena, as if he was too hot to cool down. Josh Naylor even pretended to track the ball down for him, a keepsake to a career rut they hope he never experiences again. Raleigh joked that he might even keep this one for the heck of it. The Mariners have been clawing to get above .500 since they were 3-2 on March 30. Inconsistencies have been well-chronicled across the board, and beyond Raleigh. This group is best when playing loose, and the big celebration -- over what most would consider a minor moment -- stood out. Raleigh's at-bats have gotten considerably better here over the last couple of days, and he's been grinding through whatever, and you want to see guys succeed so badly. It's not often that an inconsequential hit in a runaway, 10-2 win takes center stage over countless other highlights the Mariners manufactured against the Astros. But it's been that kind of year for the reigning runner-up for AL MVP, who's mostly been in a Big Slumper since Opening Day. Raleigh said, 'Sometimes, you've just got to throw everything out the window and just go out there and say, 'Screw it,' and try to compete. ... Sometimes, you've got to put the numbers and the technique and mechanics aside and just go out there and grind it out.' In my opinion, this moment is a big deal for the team and for Raleigh personally. It shows that even in the face of adversity, there's always a chance to turn things around. It's a reminder that sometimes, all it takes is one moment to shift the tide. And when you're hot, you're hot -- because Raleigh kept his rally going with another single in the eighth. He went from no hits in 15 days to his sixth multi-hit game of the season. While it's not a breakthrough, it's a step in the right direction. Raleigh is still hitting just .166, which is the second-lowest among 175 qualified hitters. His .249 on-base percentage is 170th among that group, and his 55 strikeouts are tied for ninth-most in baseball. He's also been most susceptible to the game's most prevalent pitch, the four-seam fastball, which he entered the day hitting just .093 against despite seeing it significantly more than any offering, at a 37.4% clip. The next most frequent are changeups, at 12.9%. These struggles were partly why he was dropped from the No. 2 spot for the first time all season on Saturday, to cleanup, where he’s been since. But he still does have seven homers that are tied for second-most on the team behind Luke Raley’s eight, and smacked over a 20-game stretch that led into this 0-fer. The Mariners have been struggling to get above .500, but this moment could be a turning point. It's a reminder that even in the face of adversity, there's always a chance to turn things around. It's a big step for the team and for Raleigh personally.
