Cincinnati Reds at Seattle Mariners

In what world could anyone imagine intentionally walking a left-on-left matchup to load the bases and face Cal Raleigh? That it happened on Monday night underscored just how precipitous the dropoff has been in this 2026 season for the Mariners’ star catcher. Maybe it was the mental anguish of these remarkably unforeseen struggles that led him to let loose, or perhaps it was the perceived disrespect that he’d be an easy out. But Big Dumper reminded everyone -- and especially the Reds -- what he’s capable of, with one awe-inspiring swing that took us all back to 2025. On the very first pitch after that fateful decision from Cincinnati skipper Terry Francona, Raleigh demolished a grand slam into the second deck -- sending T-Mobile Park into a frenzy and Seattle toward an 8-0 win. “Any time you can get the job done and help the team out, you feel good about yourself,” said Raleigh, who’s hitting .163 with a .573 OPS. “Not just because you know you got it done, but because you're helping the team out and you're seeing the smiles and the energy in the dugout and the crowd going crazy.” The big fly came immediately after Francona brought in lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson, presumably to face lefty-swinging Dominic Canzone. The move made sense, despite Canzone’s improvements against lefties, evolving from a strict platoon to everyday bat. First base was open and there was only one out, so a bases-loaded situation created a double-play scenario. But even Canzone was perplexed by the decision, hesitating initially before taking first base. That brought up Raleigh, who was hitless in his past 15 at-bats, who hadn’t homered since July 4 and who’d only cleared the fence twice since returning from the injured list on June 16. But Raleigh sat back on a hanging slurve that broke right into the middle of the zone -- and drilled it 408 feet to left field for just his second homer batting righty this season.