Raleigh hits back-to-back homers to break switch-hitter season mark

KANSAS CITY — Cal Raleigh hit back-to-back home runs Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, first breaking a 64-year-old single-season record for switch-hitters and then tying the Seattle Mariners franchise mark, sparking a standing ovation and helping the Mariners rout the Kansas City Royals 12-5. Raleigh’s consecutive blasts came in the third and fourth innings of a game that extended Seattle’s winning streak to 10 games and kept the Mariners atop the American League West.

Batting left-handed in the top of the third, Raleigh fouled off a changeup, took a sinker for a ball and then drove a hanging curveball 419 feet over the right-field fence for his 55th homer of the season. That shot surpassed Mickey Mantle’s 1961 mark of 54 home runs by a switch-hitter. In his very next plate appearance, batting right-handed against Daniel Lynch IV, Raleigh sent the first pitch 425 feet to straightaway center for his 56th homer, matching Ken Griffey Jr.’s club single-season record of 56.

Raleigh doubled in the first inning and finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. He recorded his 10th multi-homer game of the season and the 20th of his career. Fans behind the visiting dugout...