Luke Raley’s done a lot of things in his career. He’s the rare Mariner who can both get to the third deck in right field and also routinely bunt for a base hit. He burst into fans’ hearts in 2024 by doing exactly that. But something he’s never done is hit a grand slam. At least, it was something he’d never done until tonight.
It was the second time the Mariners had loaded the bases in just the first three innings. The first time, they were turned back after driving in just a single run on a Cole Young HBP. But this time, Luke Raley would torch a fastball at 113 mph off the bat into the Mariners’ bullpen.
Mariners fans in the Chicago crowd would come up with a few of the balls hit into the stands tonight, but Raley’s lucky this one went to the pen. Eduard Bazardo ran it down and affectionately dusted it off for presentation to Raley after the game.
Another thing Raley’s never done is drive in seven runs in a game, which is hardly a surprise, given that only a dozen Mariners had ever done it before. At least, it was something Raley’d never done until tonight. But in the top of the seventh inning, Luke Raley matched the 372 feet of his prior home run with his second of the night.
After an injury-riddled 2025, Raley has been hitting the ball so hard this season that he’s got a 149 wRC+ despite striking out more than a third of the time. That comes from the kinds of full-effort swings that he just couldn’t get to while nursing a sore oblique throughout last summer. He’s also taken over the team lead in home runs with 8 and RBIs with 23.
Of course, RBIs aren’t really an individual achievement, as they require your teammates to get on base in front of you. “I was blessed that the bases were loaded,” Raley said after the game. So he’ll probably buy a Chicago steak dinner for Randy Arozarena and J.P. Crawford, who accounted for four of Raley’s RBIs, with each man quietly reaching base three times tonight. For setting up Luke Raley’s achievement with little fanfare, Randy gets tonight’s Sun Hat Award for individual contribution to a game (edging out J.P. with a stolen base).
Like Luke Raley, Julio Rodríguez has done a lot of things in his career too, such as being one of just three Mariners with at least 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases. But one thing he’s never done is get off to a hot start. At least, it was something he’d never done until this season. For despite struggling through the first week of 2026, Julio’s started his take-off earlier than usual this year. Since April 8, he’s got a 152 wRC+. So yes, he took a minute to get going, but unlike in prior years, it really was just a minute. He kept that going tonight, going yard for the sixth time.
This home run highlights a mechanical change that’s led to Julio looking much more comfortable in the box this year. After keeping his bat pretty straight up and down, he’s now resting it almost parallel to the ground with just a little waggle until the pitcher starts his motion. The result is a more fluid motion that just goes straight into the swing rather than backing the bat up first. Whether the mechanics are actually better is above my pay grade. But the results are not: He’s never had a wRC+ this high by May 8 before.
Josh Naylor has done a lot of things in his career too. And Josh Naylor always looks fucking sick.