Raleigh reaches 60 homers as Mariners clinch first division title since 2001 / Photo: Steph Chambers - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Raleigh reaches 60 homers as Mariners clinch first division title since 2001
Seattle's Cal Raleigh belted a pair of homers to take his Major League-leading tally to 60 on Wednesday as the Mariners beat Colorado 9-2 to clinch their first American League West division title since 2001.
Raleigh launched a solo homer into the upper deck at T-Mobile Park in Seattle in the first inning for number 59.
Chants of "M-V-P" rang out when he belted his 60th in the bottom of the eighth.
Raleigh's 60 homers lead the majors, with Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber next on 56.
Raleigh has crushed records along the way, setting marks for most home runs in a season by a catcher, most in a season by a switch-hitter and the most in Mariners history.
He's just the seventh player to hit 60 home runs in a season and the first in MLB history to hit at least 20 from each side of the plate in one season.
Raleigh is closing on Yankees slugger Aaron Judge's American League record of 62 home runs in a season, set in 2022.
Judge, locked in a race with Raleigh for American League Most Valuable Player honors, bashed his 50th and 51st home runs of the season earlier Wednesday to become just the fourth MLB player with four 50-homer campaigns.
Judge is now tied for the most 50-homer seasons with legendary Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
Judge hit his 50th in the second inning of the Yankees' 8-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox, a three-run blast off pitcher Jonathan Cannon that sailed into the Yankees' bullpen at Yankee Stadium and put the hosts up 3-1.
He added his 51st in the eighth inning as he recorded the 46th multi-homer game of his career.
One night after the Yankees secured a post-season berth they pulled level atop the American League East division with the Toronto Blue Jays, who fell 7-1 to the Boston Red Sox.
"Big tone-setter for us tonight," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Judge.
"A big three-run homer after we fell behind there and then took it from there.
"Another great evening for the captain."
The Milwaukee Brewers closed in on the top seed in the National League with a 3-1 victory over the Padres in San Diego.
The Brewers matched the franchise record for wins in a season with their 96th.
- Phillies pound Marlins -
They can secure the NL top seed with one more win or one Philadelphia defeat over the waning games of the season this week.
The Phillies kept the heat on, pummelling the Miami Marlins 11-1 to secure a first-round bye.
Kyle Schwarber hit his 55th and 56th home runs of the season -- part of Philadelphia's franchise-record eight homers in the game.
Edmundo Sosa got in on the long-ball display, hitting a career-high three homers in his first game back from the injured list.
The Cleveland Guardians continued their remarkable late-season surge, supplanting Detroit atop American League Central division with a 5-1 home win over the Tigers.
George Valera hit a two-run home run and Jose Ramirez drove in two runs with a double for the Guardians, who had trailed Detroit by 15 1/2 games in the division in July.
The Tigers, meanwhile, find themselves without at least a share of first place for the first time since April after their eighth straight defeat.
B.Fernandez--GM
