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HOUSTON — The Astros were in desperate need of a win Wednesday after dropping four of five and letting their lead in the AL West dwindle.

Held scoreless through seven innings, things looked bleak before some late-game heroics lifted them to the victory.

Mauricio Dubon‘s RBI single with one out in the ninth gave the Astros to a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles, allowing Houston to avoid a sweep and stay a half-game ahead of Texas and Seattle for first place in the AL West standings.

“That was a big win,” manager Dusty Baker said. “It was nice to see the guys happy and partying because it’s been a morgue in there for the past two days. That was a huge game.”

Yainer Diaz doubled to right field off Danny Coulombe (5-2) to start Houston’s ninth, and he moved to third on a groundout by Chas McCormick.

Dubon smacked a single into the gap in right field to score Diaz and start the celebration.

“We needed this,” Dubon said. “Getting a walk-off win in late September with how the standings are, it’s pretty special for everybody.”

The Astros had just two hits when Jeremy Peña’s RBI double tied it with one out in the eighth.

Closer Ryan Pressly (4-5) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.

Veteran catcher Martín Maldonado said nothing had to be said before the game for the Astros to know the urgency they need to play with as the regular season winds down.

“Everybody knows we have to win games, and nobody has to say anything for us to know that we’ve got to win games, and that’s the bottom line,” he said.

Anthony Santander doubled and drove in Baltimore’s only run with a single in the first inning. The Orioles maintained their 2½-game lead in the AL East over Tampa Bay, which lost to the Los Angeles Angels later Wednesday.

Orioles starter Kyle Bradish allowed two hits and struck out nine in six scoreless innings.

Houston’s Cristian Javier gave up five hits and a run while tying a season high with 11 strikeouts in five innings.

“That was the best that Javi has looked this year,” Baker said. “He looked like the old Javier.”

Adley Rutschman doubled with one out in the first before the Orioles made it 1-0 when he scored on a single by Santander.

Javier settled down after that, retiring 10 of the next 11 before Adam Frazier singled with one out in the fifth. Javier walked Ramon Urias but struck out Gunnar Henderson before retiring Rutschman to end the threat.

McCormick singled to open Houston’s third, but Bradish didn’t allow another hit until Jake Meyers singled to start the sixth.

He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Maldonado. Bradish struck out Altuve and looked to have struck out Peña to end the inning. But Rutschman was called for catcher’s interference to put Peña on first and extend the inning. The Astros still came up empty when Kyle Tucker lined out.

“Tough lineup to pitch against, and he was outstanding,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Only gave up a couple hits, worked out of that jam there, got the unfortunate catcher’s interference but a big out against Tucker there to end that inning. He was really good … and deserved a win.”

Shintaro Fujinami walked pinch-hitter Yordan Alvarez with no outs in the eighth before walking Jose Altuve with one out. He was replaced by Mike Baumann, who was greeted with the double from Peña that tied it at 1-all.

Baumann intentionally walked Tucker to load the bases, but Alex Bregman struck out before Jose Abreu grounded out to end the inning.

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Cal Raleigh Home Run Watch: After hitting No. 58 on Sunday, will the Big Dumper reach 60?

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Cal Raleigh Home Run Watch: After hitting No. 58 on Sunday, will the Big Dumper reach 60?

The Big Dumper just left the yard again!

In what has become a regular occurrence during Cal Raleigh‘s incredible 2025 season, the Seattle Mariners catcher added another home run to his 2025 total on Saturday — passing another MLB legend in the process — followed by one more on Sunday night.

Raleigh has already surpassed the record for home runs by a catcher and by a switch-hitter and set a Mariners franchise record, and who could forget his Home Run Derby triumph earlier this summer?

What record could Raleigh set next, how many home runs will he finish with and just how impressive is his season? We’ve got it all covered.

Raleigh must-reads: Raleigh’s road to homer history | Surprising 50-HR seasons | Best power half-seasons in MLB history


Raleigh’s current pace

Raleigh is now at 58 home runs and on pace for 60 with seven games left.

The American League record is 62, set by Aaron Judge in 2022, and there have been only nine 60-home run seasons in MLB history.


Who Raleigh passed with his latest home run

With his 58th home run on Sunday night, Raleigh moved past Luis Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez on the all-time single-season home run list. With No. 57 the night before, Raleigh surpassed Ken Griffey Jr.’s Mariners franchise record of 56 — a number Griffey reached twice — in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Raleigh has joined Griffey as the only Mariners with 50 home runs (or even 45) in a season. Raleigh is also the first Seattle slugger with 40 homers in a season since Nelson Cruz in 2016.


Who Raleigh can catch with his next home run

After passing Mickey Mantle, Griffey and A-Rod with his most recent blasts, the next big question for Raleigh is if he can get to No. 60. But he is already in rare company as No. 59 would move him past Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg on the all-time single-season home run list.


Raleigh’s 5 most impressive feats of 2025

Most home runs in a season by a switch-hitter

With his 55th home run, Raleigh knocked Mickey Mantle, who hit 54 in 1961, from the top spot. Breaking Salvador Perez‘s record of 48 home runs by a primary catcher understandably got a lot of attention, but beating Mantle’s mark is arguably more impressive given how long the record stood and the Hall of Famer’s stature.

One of the best months ever for a catcher

In May, Raleigh hit .304/.430/.739 with 12 home runs and 26 RBIs. Only four catchers have hit more home runs in a calendar month and only eight with at least 100 plate appearances produced a higher slugging percentage. Raleigh was almost as good in June, hitting .300/.398/.690 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs, giving him two-month totals of .302/.414/.714 with 23 home runs and 53 RBIs. In one blazing 24-game stretch from May 12 to June 7, Raleigh hit .319 with 14 home runs.

Reaching 100 runs and 100 RBIs

Raleigh is sitting on 107 runs scored while leading the American League with 121 RBIs. Only eight other primary catchers have reached 100 in both categories in the same season — Mike Piazza did it twice, in 1997 and 1999, and he and Ivan Rodriguez were the last catchers to do it in ’99. Of the other catchers, seven are in the Hall of Fame (Piazza, Rodriguez, Mickey Cochrane, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk). The lone exception is Darrell Porter, who reached the milestone with the Royals in 1979.

Tying Ken Griffey Jr.’s club record for home runs

Griffey hit 56 home runs for the Mariners in 1997 and 1998, leading the AL both seasons and winning the MVP Award in 1997 (he and Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 are Seattle’s two MVP winners). Griffey had the advantage of playing in the cozy confines of the Kingdome in those years, although his home/road splits were fairly even. Raleigh, however, has had to play in a tough park to hit in, with 30 of his 56 home runs coming on the road, where his OPS is about 100 points higher. That marks only the 19th time a player has reached 30 road homers (by contrast, 30 homers at home has been accomplished 37 times).

An outside shot at most total bases by a catcher

With 337 total bases, Raleigh’s 2025 campaign is already one of only 20 catcher seasons with 300 total bases (yes, time at DH has helped him here). The record is 355, shared by Piazza in 1997 and Bench in 1970 (both played 150-plus games in those seasons). Raleigh would need a strong finish to get there but could at least move into third place ahead of Perez’s 337 total bases in 2021. Not counted in Raleigh’s total bases: his 14 stolen bases!

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Raleigh’s 58th HR fuels Mariners’ sweep of Astros

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Raleigh's 58th HR fuels Mariners' sweep of Astros

HOUSTON — Seattle Mariners star Cal Raleigh hit his MLB-leading 58th home run on Sunday night, a two-run shot in the second inning against the Houston Astros.

The Mariners were up 5-0 after a grand slam by J.P. Crawford in the second when Raleigh, who was batting left-handed, connected off Jason Alexander for his home run to right field to extend the lead.

The shot came a night after Raleigh passed Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise’s single-season home run record with his 57th. Griffey hit 56 in 1997 and in 1998.

Raleigh also has surpassed Mickey Mantle‘s MLB record of 54 home runs by a switch-hitter that had stood since 1961. And Raleigh has set the MLB record for homers by a catcher this season, eclipsing the 48 hit by Salvador Perez in 2021.

Raleigh is five home runs ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, who are tied for second place with 53 apiece.

The Mariners won 7-3 to complete a three-game sweep that gave them a three-game lead in the American League West over the Astros with six remaining.

Seattle, which has won four straight and 14 of 15, holds the second AL playoff seed by two games over AL Central-leading Detroit, which has dropped six in a row. The Mariners, looking to win the AL West for the first time since 2001, finished 8-5 against the Astros this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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First AL ticket punched as Jays earn playoff spot

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First AL ticket punched as Jays earn playoff spot

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Toronto Blue Jays became the first American League team to secure a spot in the postseason on Sunday with an 8-5 victory against the Kansas City Royals.

The AL-best and AL East-leading Blue Jays locked up a playoff spot with a week remaining in the regular season after a less-than-stellar start of 16-20 in early May and trailing by as many as eight games in the division in late May.

“I remember back when we were in Tampa in May, we weren’t playing very well and we got swept there,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I think these guys did a great job of rallying around each other, but the turning point was really when we came out of Tampa and went into the Texas series.”

This is Toronto’s third playoff berth in four years and fourth in six seasons. They missed the postseason in 2021 and 2024. Playoff success has been elusive for the Blue Jays, who haven’t won a postseason game since 2016. And, unlike the past three trips, they hope this year they won’t have to play in the AL wild-card round as they try to win their first division title since 2015 as they close out the regular season with a six-game homestand against Boston and Tampa Bay.

“You could feel it with this group in spring training,” Schneider said. “I know that sounds really cliché, but when you get a group of men that are committed to the same goal, you can do things like this.”

The Blue Jays’ 90-66 record is tops in the AL and they lead their division by 2½ games over the New York Yankees. If Toronto wins the AL East and has one of the two best records in the league, it will advance to the AL Divisional Series, which starts Oct. 4.

The last time Toronto made it that far was nine years ago.

“I’m just so happy for them,” Schneider said. “It’s hard at this level for everyone to put their egos aside and to play for one another. It’s so cool to see these guys completely happy for one another when they get the job done no matter who it is. This is the most fulfilling team I’ve ever been a part of with different characters, different skill sets, guys coming together for one common goal which is what’s important now. This is something you always celebrate.”

The Blue Jays are trying to win their first World Series since 1993.

“Today we go back to the postseason, but the journey is not over yet,” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said. “We still want to win the division over the next six games. Since spring training, everyone has been together and when you see a team like that you start believing.”

Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak with Sunday’s win, and after the game popped champagne in the visitors clubhouse in Kansas City.

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