SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh is making a habit of epic Mariners walk-offs.
Seattle’s burly backstop ripped a 107.1 mph RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning on Wednesday to break a scoreless tie in a tense game with the Yankees and help Seattle avoid a sweep with a 1-0 win.
The big knock, which scored automatic runner José Caballero, occurred nearly eight months to the day after his walk-off homer ended the Mariners’ 21-year postseason drought last fall.
Raleigh’s efforts backed the most brilliant outing yet from second-year starter George Kirby, who tossed eight shutout innings and walked a tightrope of zero run support. Kirby surrendered just three hits and no walks while striking out seven and allowing just one runner to reach scoring position. Kirby threw 95 pitches and saw a massive uptick of 1.7 mph each on both his two- and four-seam fastballs, which led to nine of the 10 whiffs he generated.