Reds’ epic slight of Cal Raleigh may have just fixed him

If there’s one way to see your fortunes change on the baseball field, it’s being the beneficiary of your opponent picking the absolute wrong time to intentionally walk a batter. And the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh found himself in one such situation Monday night.

Mariners 8, Reds 0: Recap | Box score | Standings

With Seattle leading 3-0 with two runners on in the seventh inning, the Reds went to left-hander Caleb Ferguson with lefty slugger Dominic Canzone set to hit. But Ferguson, who was with the M’s last year after being acquired ahead of the trade deadline, didn’t pitch to Canzone. Instead, Canzone was given a free pass as the Reds opted instead to face the scuffling Cal Raleigh with the bases loaded.

Bad call, guys.

Cal Raleigh connects for a GRAND SLAM!

(MLB x @JAL_Official_jp) pic.twitter.com/P4BM9grV43

— MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2026

Raleigh jumped all over the first pitch he saw from his former teammate and crushed a 408-foot grand salami well beyond the fence in left field, putting the M’s up 7-0. It was Raleigh’s 10th homer, coming in his 69th game of the season.

The Mariners went on to win to 8-0 (Raleigh drove in another run with a bases-loaded groundout in the eighth) to get back over .500 at 51-50 and overtake the Texas Rangers (50-50) for a half-game lead in the AL West. Texas lost to the Chicago White Sox 10-3 earlier in the night.

Mariners detail injury concerns with Julio and J.P.

It’s been a trying season for Raleigh, who missed time with an oblique injury and has seemed to be off with his timing at the plate. Entering the day, he was hitting just .163 with a .565 OPS, a drastic dropoff from his historic 60-homer season in 2025 when he hit .247 with a .948 OPS.

Prior to his grand slam, Raleigh had just 3 hits in his last 30 at-bats (.100 average) and hadn’t homered since July 4.

Perhaps the slight the Reds gave Raleigh was exactly the thing he needed to get his season heading in the right direction. At the very least, Cincinnati should be regretting its decision to walk the man in front of Raleigh to give him a chance to plate four runs with just one swing.

That being said, Reds manager Terry Francona doubled down on the decision after the game, according to Andrew Destin of The Associated Press.

“It’s not a comfortable situation either way. Saying that, I’d do that every time,” Francona said.

Seattle Mariners news and more

• ESPN’s Passan believes Cal Raleigh ‘will fix himself’
• Five Mariners storylines we’re watching in the second half
• Seattle Mariners’ expected timelines on three injured relievers

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