Cal Raleigh blasts grand slam in rout of Reds, Mariners reclaim first in AL West

Adam Jude, The Seattle Times on Jul 21, 2026

Published in Baseball

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Reds manager Terry Francona didn’t hesitate. Dom Canzone did.

From the top step of the visitors’ dugout, Francona got the attention of home-plate umpire Dillon Wilson and held up four fingers, an unambiguous signal for an intentional walk.

Canzone, the Mariners’ left-handed slugger, was about to enter the batter’s box to face Caleb Ferguson, the Reds’ veteran lefty reliever, with one out and two runners in scoring position in the seventh inning. As Wilson tried to inform him that he was being awarded a free pass to first, Canzone hesitated and looked at the umpire as if to say, Uh, are you sure?

Canzone took his base to load the bases for Cal Raleigh, an unambiguous indication of just how little opposing teams are fearing the Mariners’ catcher these days.

One pitch, and one violent swing later, Raleigh struck back.

Raleigh blasted a grand slam on the first pitch he saw from Ferguson, a much-needed turn of events for the Mariners’ slumping catcher to continue a much-needed turnaround for this Mariners team in an 8-0 victory over the Reds in their series opener Monday night at T-Mobile Park.

It was Raleigh’s 10th homer of the season and his sixth career grand slam, and a welcome sign for a slugger that belted an MLB-best 60 home runs last season. The idea of any manager intentionally walking someone in front of Raleigh would have been unthinkable a year ago.

George Kirby allowed just three hits over six shutout innings, and the Mariners (51-50) won their third straight game to reclaim first place in the American League West after Texas’ loss to the White Sox earlier in the evening.

The Mariners won despite losing star center fielder Julio Rodríguez to an apparent hamstring injury midway through the game. Rodríguez exited after beating out an infield single in the fifth inning, driving in Victor Robles for the game’s first run off Reds lefty Andrew Abbott.

Rodríguez was holding the back of his left leg after sprinting through the base, and he soon left the home dugout with a team trainer.

J.P. Crawford was a late scratch from the lineup with an unspecified issue.

Colt Emerson, originally scheduled for an off day, was inserted into the lineup about 90 minutes before first pitch. Monday was Emerson’s 21st birthday, and he delivered a key sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to make it 2-0.

Weston Wilson, Rodriguez’s replacement, added an RBI double, and Raleigh came through with his biggest moment of the season two batters later.

Kirby, in his first start in 12 days, was pulled after the sixth inning despite throwing just 80 pitches. He walked one and struck out six.

After Kirby was lifted, rookie right-hander Nick Davila threw a scoreless seventh inning, working around a leadoff hit batter by getting Eugenio Suarez, the Seattle fan favorite, to ground to third baseman Buddy Kennedy to start a 5-4-3 double play.

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