BASEBALL: Cal Raleigh’s walk-off single lifts Mariners past Yankees

Cal Raleigh’s walk-off single in the ninth inning gave the Seattle Mariners a 2-1 victory over the visiting New York Yankees on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Leo Rivas led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to right off Paul Blackburn (0-1). With one out, Brendan Donovan singled to center, advancing Rivas to third. Raleigh, who entered the game in the seventh inning as the designated hitter, grounded a single down the right-field line to end the game.

Mariners reliever Matt Brash (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning to earn the win.

Seattle struck first in the second inning against Yankees starter Ryan Weathers. Randy Arozarena led off with a single to center, and Mitch Garver drew a 10-pitch walk. With two outs, Cole Young hit a broken-bat single down the right-field line to score Arozarena.

New York evened the score in the seventh with an unearned run. Ben Rice singled to right off reliever Jose A. Ferrer and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Giancarlo Stanton hit a ball that glanced off Donovan’s glove at third base, allowing Rice to remain at second. Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded into a forceout, sending Rice to third.

Amed Rosario pinch-hit for Ryan McMahon and lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center, tying the game at 1-1.

The Mariners threatened again in the bottom of the seventh against Brent Headrick. Young doubled to right for his third hit of the game, and Donovan followed with a single to left, stopping at third. Headrick struck out Raleigh, and Camilo Doval got Julio Rodriguez to ground out to second to end the inning.

Mariners starter Luis Castillo delivered six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits: a one-out single by Stanton in the fourth, which Donovan lost in the lights, and a two-out infield single by Jose Caballero in the fifth. Castillo walked two and struck out seven, including Aaron Judge on a check swing in the sixth for his 1,500th career strikeout.

Weathers went 4⅓ innings in his Yankees debut, giving up one run on four hits, walking two, and striking out seven. The left-hander was acquired in an offseason trade with Miami.

-Field Level Media/Reuters