We'd like to think it's no coincidence that we aired our story with Cal Raleigh on Friday, he promptly followed that up Saturday with the first three-hit game of his career.

The reality here however, is that we could have aired that story any day and it would have worked.

Because quite simply, Cal Raleigh is coming through in the clutch when the Mariners need him the most.

Since June 1, his batting average has climbed nearly 70 points. His five home runs in June have vaulted him to a tie for second place with the most home runs for all catchers in Major League Baseball.

What makes that stat even more impressive is that Cal missed time this season.

Not through injury, but rather a demotion.

Cal was sent to Triple-A Tacoma after struggling out of the gate with Seattle in April.

"Sometimes you need a little reset. Unfortunately, it's not the most fun thing to go through" Raleigh told me recently.

"There's some things that weren't going my way or maybe I wasn't doing the best job at. Got sent down and had to look at some things differently, through a different lens and a different perspective. It helped me for the better and in the long run."

Indeed it did, and just when the Mariners need it the most.

The M's received word that former starting catcher Tom Murphy is out for the rest of the season with a torn labrum. Meaning Raleigh will have to carry a huge role for this team if it wants to contend for a playoff spot.

A role that Raleigh relishes.

"Catchers have to be involved in every single aspect of the game."

And so Cal's now up to 9 home runs and 19 RBI and while those numbers are nice, what's more is the way he bounced back to achieve that production.

There are plenty of players that never make it back to the big leagues after being sent down, but Raleigh refused to let that happen.

Simply put, he had too many people to set an example for. He had to make it back for them.

And he didn't just climb back to the bigs, he's thriving there.

"You play this game to give back to the younger generation" Raleigh said.

"I have a younger brother myself. He's only 12 years old and I want to be a good example for him. I want to be example for anyone that wants to play because I used to be that little 12 year old, 10 year old kid playing little league who got cut. Just to know that you can keep going and keep trying and keep working hard and you can achieve your goals or achieve your dreams is something special."

So as many little leaguers or prep school players in the Pacific Northwest look to inspiration in tough times on the field Cal is clearly a great example of perseverance.

Lucky for Mariner fans, that rebound is helping the M's to a hot streak on the road in June that might be enough to fight for the postseason in October.

All, in some part, because Cal Raleigh couldn't be held back.