Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 53rd home run and the Seattle Mariners collected 20 hits in an 18-2 blowout win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, their highest-scoring game in 13 years.
Eugenio Suárez homered twice, giving him 45 this season, while Jorge Polanco and Josh Naylor also went deep.
The Mariners hit five home runs for the second straight game, a feat they last accomplished in May 1994.
Seattle put the game out of reach early with an eight-run third inning. Polanco and Naylor both homered in that frame, and Julio Rodríguez cleared the bases when his hard-hit ground ball bounced off Braves third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr.’s leg and rolled into left field for a three-run double.
Raleigh added a three-run homer in the ninth as part of a seven-run inning. Suárez also homered in the sixth and later hit a two-run shot in the ninth.
The offensive explosion marked the Mariners’ most runs since a 21-8 win over Texas on May 30, 2012, and their most hits since that same game.
It also gave Seattle back-to-back wins for the first time since Aug. 24-25 against Oakland and San Diego.
The win pushed Seattle (75-68) 1 1/2 games ahead of Kansas City (73-69) for the third American League wild card spot.
Luis Castillo (9-8) snapped a personal six-start winless streak by holding Atlanta to one run and four hits over six innings. He had gone 0-2 with a 7.31 ERA since his last victory on July 28.
The Braves adjusted their pitching plans Sunday morning, scratching scheduled starter Spencer Strider and moving him to Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs.
Joey Wentz (5-6) started instead and allowed eight runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings, matching his career high in runs allowed.
Seattle will return home Monday to open a series against St. Louis, with Bryan Woo (12-7, 3.02 ERA) facing Miles Mikolas (7-10, 4.89).
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