Cal Raleigh’s three-RBI night turns early tie into Mariners’ 7-2 win over Angels

The game swung when Seattle’s traffic finally cashed in

Seattle established the shape of the night in the first inning. Raleigh opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly that brought home J.P. Crawford, and Josh Naylor followed with a single to right that scored Randy Arozarena for a quick 2-0 edge. It looked tidy on the board, but the larger theme was already there: the Mariners were forcing Los Angeles to work, reaching base without waiting for a big fly that never came.

The Angels answered just enough to make it interesting. Vaughn Grissom’s sacrifice fly scored Zach Neto in the bottom of the first, and Adam Frazier tied the game in the second with a single to left that brought in Denzer Guzman. Seattle starter George Kirby struck out five, but his 4.1 innings also included five walks, which helped explain how an early two-run lead disappeared without the Angels needing an extra-base hit.

Then came the fifth, the inning that made the rest of the game feel far more manageable for Seattle. Raleigh doubled to left to score Arozarena and move Dominic Canzone to third, restoring the lead at 3-2. Moments later, Naylor put the ball in play again, and what might have been a routine limitation instead became damage: Canzone scored on the fielder’s choice, Raleigh came home on a throwing error by first baseman Grissom, and Julio Rodríguez wound up safe at second. A tie game had become a 5-2 Mariners lead, and the Angels had helped push it there.

Raleigh finished the rallies, but Seattle’s patience built them

Raleigh owned the cleanest line in the middle of the order, finishing 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk. Naylor added two hits and two RBI, Canzone reached three times and drove in one, and Rodríguez chipped in two hits of his own. Above all, Arozarena kept reappearing in the middle of the action, scoring three runs and drawing two walks. For a lineup that never hit a home run, that much repeat traffic mattered more than any single swing.

That is what stands out about this Mariners win: it was built on accumulation. Seattle managed nine hits, but also drew seven walks, had a batter hit by a pitch, stole three bases and forced 165 pitches out of the Angels staff. The sixth inning was a continuation of the same idea rather than a new chapter. Canzone singled home Crawford for a 6-2 lead, and Raleigh followed with a single that brought Arozarena home again for 7-2.

Our take: this is a useful version of Seattle’s offense because it did not depend on rare thunder. The Mariners generated seven runs with zero homers by staying on base and keeping innings alive, which is a sturdy way to win when power is absent. The improvement point is smaller but real: even in a seven-run game, Seattle still hit into two double plays, so there is room to turn all that traffic into something cleaner and less inning-by-inning.

The Angels had chances; the Mariners had the shutdown innings

Los Angeles can point to a frustrating box score. The Angels actually finished with more hits than Seattle, 10 to 9, and their lineup was not short on baserunners. Guzman went 4-for-5, Moises Ballesteros had two hits and a walk, and Neto added two hits and a walk of his own. But all 10 Angels hits were singles. With no doubles, triples or home runs, every rally required a chain of precision, and too many of those chains broke before the scoreboard really moved.

Seattle’s relievers made sure of that. After Kirby exited with two runs already allowed, Carlos Vargas, Jose Ferrer, Cooper Criswell and Andrés Muñoz combined for 4.2 scoreless innings. That group gave up five hits, but no walks, and struck out six. The contrast with the Angels pitching line was hard to miss: Yusei Kikuchi was charged with five runs, four earned, in 4.1 innings, and Los Angeles pitchers issued seven walks overall while the defense added two errors and a passed ball.

Our take: the final margin makes sense once the small details are lined up. Seattle was the steadier team in the parts of baseball that often decide ordinary regular-season games — free passes, baserunning, and clean relief work. The Angels’ path forward is not mysterious. When a team records 10 hits and still scores only twice, the first place to look is not volume but what kind of contact it produced and what happened once runners were aboard. Add the defensive mistakes that inflated Seattle’s fifth inning, and this one reads less like a batting shortfall than a failure to keep the game orderly.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Raleigh hit sacrifice fly to left, Crawford scored.

2. 1st Inning

   Naylor singled to right, Arozarena scored, Canzone to third.

3. 1st Inning

   Grissom hit sacrifice fly to left, Neto scored.

4. 2nd Inning

   Frazier singled to left, Guzman scored, Lowe to second.

5. 5th Inning

   Raleigh doubled to left, Arozarena scored, Canzone to third.

6. 5th Inning

   Naylor grounded into fielder's choice to first, Canzone scored and Raleigh scored on error, Rodríguez safe at second on throwing error by first baseman Grissom.

7. 6th Inning

   Canzone singled to left, Crawford scored, Arozarena to third.

8. 6th Inning

   Raleigh singled to left, Arozarena scored, Canzone to second.