By MATT PIKE
Cal Raleigh hit a pair of homers to match the Seattle season record set by Ken Griffey Jr., Dominic Canzone belted a career-best three homers of his own, and the AL West-leading Mariners routed the fading Kansas City Royals 12-5 on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium for their 10th consecutive win.
Julio Rodriguez opened the scoring in the first inning with a two RBI double for the Mariners, driving in Raleigh and Randy Arozarena. In the second inning, Canzone hit his first homer of the night to extend the lead, before Raleigh's first homer, a 419-foot shot off Michael Wacha while batting left-handed led off the third inning, giving him 55 on the season, breaking the record for a switch-hitter set by Yankees great Mickey Mantle in 1961.
The Mariners continued pouring on the scoring in the third inning on a Josh Naylor double, scoring Rodriguez, before Naylor scored as Eugenio Suárez grounded into a double play. Canzone singled and scored on a triple by Victor Robles, who wound up stranded at third as J.P Crawford struck out. Seattle added two more runs in the fourth inning, scoring nine unanswered runs on Raleigh's second shot, a 425-footer off Daniel Lynch IV as he batted right-handed, tied the club mark that Griffey set during the 1997 season and matched the following year.
It was the 10th multihomer game this season for “The Big Dumper” and the 20th of Raleigh's career. The Royals did finally get on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the fourth with one run, Carter Jensen hitting his first major league home run in the stadium that he grew up going to games in, putting the ball just over the wall in the left field corner.
Canzone homered again in the fifth inning with a solo home run. Kansas City continued to fight in the sixth inning putting up two more runs on Jensen's second home run of the game, and the second of his career. The Royals final two runs scored in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Kyle Isbel, driving in Jonathan India, and a sacrifice fly from Mike Yastrzemski scoring Jensen, who nearly had his third home run of the game in the inning, hitting a double that bounced off the right field wall.
Canzone's third homer of the game in the ninth put up the final runs for Seattle on a hot, humid, late-summer night in which balls were sailing out of spacious Kauffman Stadium, scoring Leo Rivas. The designated hitter finished 5 for 5 with four RBI's for the Mariners.
Wacha fell to 9-12 on the season as he returned after missing his last scheduled start because of a stint on the seven-day concussion list. He allowed a season-high seven runs on nine hits over 2 2/3. At the plate for the Royals, Jensen was 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double, and three RBIs. Isbel was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Kansas City and Seattle continue their series on Wednesday. Cole Ragans (2-3, 5.18) gets his first start for the Royals since June 5, when he landed on the injured list with a strained left rotator cuff taking on Bryce Miller (4-5, 5.59 ERA) for the Mariners. First pitch is at 6:40pm, pregame coverage begins at 6 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.