With his 29th home run of the season Friday,Seattle MarinerssluggerCal Raleighhas hit the most homers by a catcher before the All-Star break in MLB history. The milestone home run came offChicago CubspitcherCaleb Thielbarin the seventh inning ofFriday's matchupat Wrigley Field. The left-hander threw a 94.2 mph fastball right down the middle of the strike zone, which Raleigh crushed down the left-field line and out of the ballpark. The two-run homer gave Seattle a 6-4 lead. They ended upwinning 9-4. Raleigh, 28, surpassed Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, who hit 28 home runs before MLB's midseason break during the 1970 season. Fellow Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez had 26 home runs prior to the All-Star break in 2000. Cal Raleigh AGAIN!He has passed Johnny Bench for the most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break 🤩pic.twitter.com/zZ8KvUyg1O — MLB (@MLB)June 20, 2025 Setting Raleigh's achievement further apart from those catching greats is how quickly he reached that home run mark. Raleigh hit his 29th homer in the 73rd game of the season. Bench hit his 28 in 87 games, and Rodriguez got to 26 in 80 games. The Mariners' catcher tied Bench with his 28th homer of the yearin the first inning off Cubs starterMatthew Boyd, hitting a low, outside 94.6 mph fastball into the left-field seats. He then went yard again in the seventh. Raleigh's 29 home runs currently lead MLB, three more thanNew York YankeesstarAaron Judgeand four ahead of theLos Angeles Dodgers'Shohei Ohtani. He's batting .273/.379/.646 with 14 doubles and 63 RBI to go with his home run total, which currently has him on pace for 62. Should he come even close to that, he would easily set the record for home runs by a team's primary catcher. That record is 48 by theKansas City Royals'Salvador Perez, achieved in 2021. Nicknamed "The Big Dumper" by former teammateJarred Kelenicfor his large backside and penchant for clutch home runs, Raleigh is well on his way to surpassing the career-best 34 home runs he hit last season. A third-round pick in 2018 out of Florida State, he's reached 30 or more homers for the past two years. Mitch Garver's second homer of the game is also the 💯th of his career!pic.twitter.com/Zhlyc5UymN — MLB (@MLB)June 20, 2025 The two homers were part of a 3-for-4 day for Raleigh, who tallied three RBI inthe Mariners' 9-4 victory.Mitch Garveralso hit two home runs, batting 2-for-4 with five RBI. He taggedRyan Presslyfor a two-run shot in the sixth and followed with a three-run blast offGénesis Cabrerain the ninth. The second homer was the 100th of Garver's career. Boyd, Pressly and Thielbar each allowed two runs for the Cubs (45-30), while Cabrera gave up three.Eduard Bazardopicked up the win for Seattle (38-36) with his scoreless sixth inning.