Sep 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Andres Munoz (75) and catcher Cal Raleigh (29) conference at the mound against the Kansas City Royals during the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Mariners Travel to Houston to Face the Astros in a Battle for First Place

Originally posted on Seattle Mariners on SI
By Ryan Boman | Last updated Sep 19, 2025 8:46 AM ET

The race for the American League West Division title has come down to this. With nine games remaining in the season, the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros are deadlocked in first place, as they meet up at Daikin Park today to kick off a three-game series. Despite being the road team, the M's are riding a lot of momentum right now, as they look for their first division championship since 2001.

On the mound, the Mariners will hand the ball to their top pitcher, Bryan Woo (14-7, 3.02 ERA). Meanwhile, the Astros will start Hunter Brown, who has gone 12-7 on the year with an excellent 2.27 ERA

Woo is 1-2 with an ERA of 3.42 and 20 strikeouts in four appearances against the Astros in his career. On the other side of the ledger, Brown has gone 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA and 50 strikeouts in eight games versus Seattle.

The Mariners (84-69) have won 10 of their last 11 games, and they've looked almost like world-beaters at times recently. The bats of Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, and JP Crawford have carried them at times. And they also boast of power threats on the corner infield with sluggers Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor. If they get quality pitching over the next three games, they could very well sweep Houston, based on their offensive output.

Cal Raleigh Eyes More Milestones

Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Aside from the chase for the postseason, Cal Raleigh will be chasing even more milestones. Sitting on 56 home runs with nine games to play, the All-Star catcher will attempt to become just the seventh player in MLB history to reach the 60-homer mark. The rest of that list includes Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Aaron Judge. That's pretty high-caliber company to be in.

On top of that, he and Judge are locked in a battle for the American League Most Valuable Player Award. Despite leading the league in homers and RBI, the Seattle backstop is viewed as the underdog against the established Yankees star, who is the reigning MVP and has won the award a total of three times in his career. So, Raleigh will need a lot of fireworks to close the year if he plans to upend the Bronx Bomber.