Cal Raleigh shoulders blame as Mariners lose fifth straight - ESPN

NEW YORK — Saddled with a .159 average to go along with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs, Cal Raleigh faced reality Tuesday night. The Seattle Mariners catcher, a year removed from finishing second in the American League MVP race, acknowledged his struggles after his club's 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees.

«It's not good. We're not playing well. That starts with me. I'm awful,» he told reporters after the loss, Seattle's fifth consecutive. «I've got to find a way to be better, and to help bring the guys along. We've just got to play better. We're just playing very, very, very bad baseball in every facet of the game.»

The offense was indeed dry Tuesday in the Bronx. Ryan Weathers carried a one-hit shutout into the sixth inning for New York, and Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham each hit two-run singles to pace the leaders in the American League wild-card race. For Seattle, it was its 14th loss in the past 19 games.

«We've got to pick it up, from the energy standpoint, to the execution, to the little things in the game that help you win baseball games,» Raleigh said after his club fell to a season-worst eight games under .500. «We're just not doing those things right now.»

Tuesday's loss was Raleigh's 86th game of the season. At that point last season, months before he'd lose out to Aaron Judge in the MVP voting by only 20 points, he was hitting .271 with 35 homers and 74 RBIs, according to ESPN Research.

«It's tough when things aren't going your way, it's hard. You feel like everybody's against you, things aren't going your way, but you've got to have a good attitude. You've got to bring that edge to play every single day, because nothing's given to you,» Raleigh said. «We've got to go take it. Sometimes, when you're feeling bad