SEATTLE -- Cal Raleigh hit his 34th and 35th home runs to set a career high and match Ken Griffey Jr.'s Seattle record for homers before the All-Star break, helping the Mariners beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0 on Friday.
Raleigh, the major league leader in home runs, turned on a fastball from Bailey Falter (6-4) in the first inning and walloped it well past the wall in left. The exit velocity on the two-run shot was logged at 115.2 mph, per Statcast, the hardest-hit ball of his career.
Raleigh topped his previous career high, set last season, in the sixth with a solo shot that chased Falter. The Mariners mustered only one other hit off the left-hander, but it was also a home run courtesy of Randy Arozarena in the fourth inning.
Raleigh's 35 homers are tied for the fifth-most in the MLB history before the All-Star break (since 1933), matching Griffey Jr. in 1998 and Luis Gonzalez in 2001. Barry Bonds holds the record with 39 at the break in 2001.
A switch-hitter, Raleigh has more home runs as a left-handed hitter and as a right-handed hitter than anyone else on the Mariners: He has 21 from the left side and 14 from the right; Arozarena ranks second on Seattle with 13 homers this season.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
