SEATTLE (AP) — 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
The major league leader 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.
Click to Gallery
Seattle Mariners designated hitter Cal Raleigh celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners designated hitter Cal Raleigh, center, celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo reacts after Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales was called out at first base during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners designated hitter Cal Raleigh tosses his bat after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Raleigh topped his previous career high — set last season — in the sixth with a solo shot that chased Falter. The Mariners only mustered one other hit off the left-hander, but it was also a home run courtesy of Randy Arozarena in the fourth inning.
Mariners starter Bryan Woo (8-4) went six innings.
The Pirates came a few inches away from taking a 2–0 lead in the first inning when Oneil Cruz lofted a pop-up toward no man’s land in left field. Arozarena made an improbable catch to end the inning and strand two Pittsburgh runners.
Woo has worked at least six innings all 17 starts this season.
Seattle RHP Luis Castillo (4-5, 3.55) was set to start Saturday against RHP Mike Burrows (1-2, 4.15).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Seattle Mariners designated hitter Cal Raleigh celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners designated hitter Cal Raleigh, center, celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo reacts after Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales was called out at first base during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 4, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners designated hitter Cal Raleigh tosses his bat after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.
A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.
Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.
The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”
Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.
Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)