SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh hit his major-league-leading 45th home run in a four-run first inning, and the Seattle Mariners hung on for a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.

Raleigh’s two-run shot came off Rays starter Adrian Houser, before Eugenio Suarez added a two-run single for the M’s in the first.

Raleigh, who went 1-for-5, joins Ken Griffey Jr. as the only Mariners players to hit 45 home runs in a season, according to ESPN Research. Griffey did it 5 times.

Raleigh also moved into a tie with Johnny Bench (1970) at second all time for most homers by a catcher in a season. The Kansas City Royals‘ Salvador Perez belted 48 in 2021.

Raleigh homered in all three games of the series.

Sunday’s win was Seattle’s seventh straight, the longest active run in the American League. Josh Naylor also homered for the M’s, who wrapped up a 9-1 homestand.

Seattle starter Bryan Woo (10-6) allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings with nine strikeouts. It was his 23rd start this season of six innings or more. Woo, who walked one batter, also tied the MLB record set by Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal in 1968 for the most consecutive games at the start of the season pitching that long and also allowing two walks or fewer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SAN FRANCISCO — Justin Verlander added another memorable chapter to his legendary pitching career Sunday, yet was hardly in the mood to celebrate.

Verlander struck out the side in the first inning against the Nationals to become the 10th pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,500 career strikeouts. Not long after, things began to unravel for the three-time Cy Young Award winner as the Giants dropped an 8-0 decision to Washington in front of 40,000 fans at Oracle Park.

Washington scored four times in the second inning and five overall on 11 hits against Verlander in the latest outing in what has been a season-long struggle for the 42-year-old.

“I was happy to get there, happy to have a moment with the fans,” said Verlander, who is 1-9 in 20 starts with the Giants and has a 4.53 ERA. “Cool milestone. I really appreciate what it’s taken to get there.”

Verlander hasn’t given the Giants much to celebrate this season, though he had been in the best stretch of the season before getting roughed up Sunday. In his three previous games, Verlander had a 0.60 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 15 innings.

He finished with six strikeouts against the Nationals, but spent most of his postgame media session focused on his season rather than the 3,500 strikeouts.

Though acknowledging frustration about his 2025 results, Verlander likened his performances to the 2022 campaign, when he went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA with the Houston Astros en route to winning his third Cy Young.

“Stuff’s great, stuff’s fine,” Verlander said. “I’ve spent a lot of the season looking at comparables. It’s right on par, literally almost up and down the board, with [2022] when I won the Cy Young. So, I think the stuff is just fine. The results have been frustrating.”

With 3,503 career strikeouts after Sunday’s outing, Verlander trails Walter Johnson by 11 strikeouts for ninth most on the all-time list.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Shane van Gisbergen earned his fourth victory this season, blowing out the competition again at Watkins Glen International.

The Trackhouse Racing driver joined 2020 champion Chase Elliott and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon as the only drivers to win four consecutive Cup races on road or street courses.

Unlike his prior wins at Mexico City, Chicago and Sonoma, van Gisbergen was unable to qualify from the pole position after he was nipped by Ryan Blaney. The Auckland, New Zealand, native bided his team after starting second, taking his first lead on Lap 25 of 90 and then settling into a typically flawless and smooth rhythm on the 2.45-mile road course.

The rookie made his final pit stop with 27 laps remaining and cycled into first place on Lap 74 of a clean race with only three yellow flags. Cruising to a big lead while leading the final 17 laps, van Gisbergen beat Christopher Bell by 11.116 seconds. Chris Buescher finished third, followed by William Byron and Chase Briscoe.

With five victories in only 38 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series, van Gisbergen trails only Elliott (seven wins) and Kyle Larson (six) among active drivers on street or road courses.

The win validated the decision by Trackhouse to sign van Gisbergen to a multiyear contract extension last week.

Feisty Gibbs

It was another frustrating race for Ty Gibbs, who spun John Hunter Nemechek late in Stage 2 and then complained about the handling and strategy of his No. 54 Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing competition director Chris Gabehart, who recently began working as a strategist and consultant to Gibbs’ team, radioed the driver to “stay in the game” after the Nemechek wreck and later took issue after Gibbs questioned his team’s strategy.

“I’m sure you’ve got a real good understanding from inside the car,” Gabehart told Gibbs on the radio. “So you can call the strategy if you want, or we can keep rolling.”

Gibbs, the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, finished 33rd and remained winless since moving into Cup after winning the 2022 Xfinity Series championship. Teammates Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Bell each have qualified for the playoffs with victories this season.

Up next

The Cup Series will race Saturday, Aug. 16 at Richmond Raceway, which will play host to its only NASCAR race weekend this season. The 0.75-mile oval had two annual races on the Cup schedule from 1959-2024.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.