Raleigh homers twice, breaks Bench’s record in the Mariners’ victory over the Cubs

CHICAGO (AP) – Cal Raleigh broke Johnny Bench’s record for home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, hitting his major league-leading 28th and 29th in the Seattle Mariners’ 9-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

Raleigh broke a tie in the seventh with No. 29 to move ahead of Hall of Famer Bench’s 1970 mark. Raleigh needed only 73 games to break the record that Bench set in 87 games. The Seattle star shattered the mark with 22 games to spare before the All-Star game.

Raleigh had three hits in his sixth multi-homer game of the season. The 28-year-old slugger drove in three runs to push his season total to 63.

Mitch Garver also homered twice and drove in five runs, putting it away with a three-run shot in the ninth. Randy Arozarena and Donovan Solano each had three hits to help Seattle win for the fifth time in seven games.

RANGERS 6, PIRATES 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jacob deGrom struck out seven in six strong innings, Corey Seager hit his first home run since May 10 and Texas beat Pittsburgh.

DeGrom (7-2) retired the first 11 batters and allowed two runs and five hits in six innings with one walk. One day after his 37th birthday, the two-time Cy Young Award winner extended his franchise record to 12 consecutive starts of allowing two runs or fewer and five hits or fewer.

After being injured for most of the past four seasons, deGrom is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four June starts.

Seager homered with one out in the fifth inning off rookie Mike Burrows (1-2), a drive to right field to increase the Rangers’ lead to 4-2. The five-time All-Star shortstop had gone 81 plate appearances without a home run while also being on the injured list from May 11-27 with a strained right hamstring.

Burrows lasted 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits.

WHITE SOX 7, BLUE JAYS 1

TORONTO (AP) – Luis Robert Jr. hit a two-run homer in Chicago’s four-run third inning and the White Sox beat Toronto to end an eight-game losing streak.

Josh Rohas had a two-run double in the third for Chicago. Andrew Benintendi had a solo home run in the first and added an RBI single in the second.

It was a double-bullpen game, with both teams trotting out a handful of relief pitchers with no starters available.

Grant Taylor pitched a scoreless inning for the White Sox before giving way to long reliever Tyler Alexander (4-7), who worked four without giving up a run. Dan Altavilla, Wikelman Gonzalez and Tyler Gilbert also came out of the bullpen, with Gonzalez allowing a run.

Spencer Turnbull (1-1) gave up four runs on five hits and two walks over two innings of work. Mason Fluharty gave up three runs on two hits and two walks, before Braydon Fisher, Nick Sandlin, Chad Green, Brendon Little and Jeff Hoffman combined for six scoreless innings.

MARLINS 6, BRAVES 2

MIAMI (AP) – Agustín Ramírez hit a three-run home run, Janson Junk pitched five effective innings and Miami beat Atlanta.

Ramírez made it 4-1 in the third with a drive off Braves starter Didier Fuentes (0-1) that went 436 feet to left, giving the rookie catcher a team-leading 11 home runs on the season.

Junk (2-0) allowed five hits, one run and struck out five in his first Marlins start. Junk, who has made five relief appearances, did not issue a walk.

Eric Wagaman boosted Miami’s lead with a pinch-hit, ground-rule double in the sixth, and Ramírez drove in another run in the seventh.

CARDINALS 6, REDS 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Andre Pallante allowed two hits in six shutout innings and St. Louis used a five-run eighth inning to beat Cincinnati.

Pallante (5-3) allowed a walk and a second-inning single to Matt McLain before leaving with a 1-0 lead after a broken-bat single by Elly De La Cruz to begin the seventh. Phil Maton got three outs to end it.

St. Louis scored five runs off relievers Scott Barlow, Taylor Rogers and Tony Santillan – who retired one batter each. Masyn Winn drove in the first run with a single off Rogers and Lars Nootbaar’s single off Santillan capped the rally after a two-out throwing error by Gavin Lux led to two runs.

Brendan Donovan reached on a fielder’s choice, took third on a Winn double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alec Burleson to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the third against Reds starter Brady Singer (7-5).

Singer allowed one run on four hits and a walk in six innings, striking out seven and retiring his final nine batters.

PHILLIES 10, METS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Bryson Stott hit a bases-clearing triple in a six-run seventh inning and Philadelphia surged past slumping New York into first place in the NL East with a victory.

Nick Castellanos homered for the Phillies, who opened the three-game set between division rivals with their eighth win in their last nine games.

Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil homered for New York, which has lost seven straight.

Reliever Reed Garrett (2-3) started the seventh for the Mets but failed to retire any of the five batters he faced after opening the frame by giving up doubles to Brandon Marsh and Trea Turner.

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