ATLANTA — Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, whose home run total has been the talk of Major League Baseball, had a power surge when it mattered most in the opening round of the Home Run Derby, propelling him to the championship.

After surviving a real chance of getting knocked out in the opening round, Raleigh cruised through the semifinals and defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero in the final (18-15), earning the championship belt and $1 million.

Raleigh joined Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, 1998, 1999) as the only Mariners player to win the Home Run Derby. He’s the only catcher to ever win the Derby.

“I just can’t believe I won, it’s unbelievable,” Raleigh said on ESPN after the final round.

It would not have been possible had it not been for Raleigh’s late heroics in the opening round.

Facing elimination with one out left in the bonus round, he hit two straight homers to tie Brent Rooker of the Athletics for fourth with 17, and advanced to the semifinals by about an inch in a tiebreaker — the farthest homer hit.

Raleigh’s farthest was 470.6 feet. Rooker’s farthest was 470.5.

Raleigh faced Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, the top seed of the opening round, in the semifinals and he put on a show. Hitting left-handed, he had 16 home runs in two minutes, then added three more in the bonus round.

Cruz put up a good fight, hitting 13, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

In the first semifinal, Minnesota’s Byron Buxton hit seven homers, and Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero stopped when he reached eight, good enough to advance to the finals.

Raleigh, who has an American League record 38 home runs at the All-Star break and is on pace to hit 64 this season, was pitched to by his father Todd, former baseball coach at Western Carolina and Tennessee.

Catching was Todd Jr., Cal’s 15-year-brother.

Raleigh, the seventh hitter of the night, hit eight home runs left-handed before calling a timeout with 1:22 left in the three-minute opening round. He then switched to right-handed and hit seven more.

Needing at least two in the bonus round to have a chance to advance, he went back to left-handed and made two straight outs before crushing two balls that moved him on in the competition.

Raleigh then stuck with the left-hand side in the semifinals and finals.

James Wood of the Washington Nationals opened the competition, hitting 16 home runs.

It got better from there. Brent Rooker of the Athletics followed with 17, and Caminero then topped that with 21.

Cruz then equaled Caminero with 21, with five of his homers going at least 483 feet, with a top one of 513, the farthest of the night.

Buxton, hitting fifth in the first round, had 20 homers, eliminating Wood. The Yankees’ Jazz Chisolm Jr. followed Buxton, and struggled mightily, hitting three.

Atlanta’s Matt Olson, hitting last in the opening round, had a chance to eliminate Raleigh and Rooker, but finished with 15.

Notes

There was a late change in the lineup of participants as Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. dropped out and was replaced by Olson.

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