SEATTLE (AP) — Cal Raleigh became the seventh player in major league history to hit 60 home runs in a season Wednesday night, launching two solo shots for the Seattle Mariners against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s crazy. Sixty is — I don’t know what to say,” said Raleigh, who leads the majors in homers. “I didn’t know if I was going to hit 60 in my life. Just tonight, what a way to do it.”
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Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh watches his 60th home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh waves to the crowd after hitting his 60th home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh tosses his bat after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh watches after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh hits a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Batting left-handed in the first inning, the switch-hitting catcher connected off Tanner Gordon and sent a drive to right field that reached the top deck at T-Mobile Park for his 59th longball of the year.
“It was like a movie,” teammate Julio Rodríguez said of Raleigh’s moonshot. “I’m just so grateful that he’s on our team, that he’s able to do what he does. He’s so special, and I can’t say enough.”
Then in the eighth, batting left-handed again, Raleigh hit No. 60 off Angel Chivilli. Raleigh also had a two-run double in the second and finished with four RBIs to give him 125 this season, most in the American League.
With a 9-2 victory, Seattle clinched its fourth AL West title and first since 2001.
The only other players to reach 60 home runs in a season are Babe Ruth (1927), Roger Maris (1961), Mark McGwire (1998 and ‘99), Sammy Sosa (1998, ’99, 2001), Barry Bonds (2001) and Aaron Judge (2022).
It was the 11th multihomer game for Raleigh this year, tied with Judge (2022), Hank Greenberg (1938) and Sosa (1998) for the MLB record.
With four games remaining in the regular season, Raleigh has a chance to pass Judge for the American League record. Judge hit 62 homers in 2022 to break the previous AL mark of 61 set by Maris in 1961.
Raleigh’s latest homers came four days after he surpassed Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise record with his 57th homer of the season. Griffey hit 56 in both 1997 and 1998.
Raleigh also broke Mickey Mantle’s previous MLB record of 54 home runs by a switch-hitter that had stood since 1961. And the Seattle slugger has set a new standard for homers by a catcher, eclipsing the 48 hit by Salvador Perez in 2021.
Raleigh is four home runs ahead of Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and six in front of Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
“When you look at how he has done it and the position that he plays — I was telling somebody earlier today that when you come off the field, you’re mentally and physically exhausted,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, a former major league catcher.
“And for him to do what he’s done offensively and to do what he does behind the plate, I honestly don’t think we’ve seen this before. It’s been incredible. I think he deserves the MVP, no question."
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh watches his 60th home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh waves to the crowd after hitting his 60th home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh tosses his bat after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh watches after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh hits a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.
Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
