Raleigh's 60th homer helps Mariners clinch AL West, first since 2001

Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh hit his 60th home run Wednesday night at T-Mobile Park, giving the Mariners a 9-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies that clinched Seattle's first American League West title since 2001. Raleigh became the seventh player in major league history to reach at least 60 homers in a season and the first player who is primarily a catcher and the first switch-hitter to do so.

Raleigh supplied two homers in the night’s win. He opened the scoring in the first with a 422-foot drive into the upper deck off Tanner Gordon and later launched his milestone blast in the bottom of the eighth, sending a first-pitch fastball from reliever Angel Chivilli into the right-field stands. He finished the game with four RBIs, a two-run double earlier in the second inning and an American League-leading 125 RBIs for the season.

The milestone carried immediate attention in the stands. A fan who initially caught Raleigh's 60th home run ball lifted it in celebration and then handed it to a nearby 12-year-old boy. Team staff escorted the boy and his father to have the ball authenticated; the Mariners said the boy traded the ball for a Raleigh-signed bat and was invited to watch batting...