Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh had a dream 2025 MLB season but ultimately it will feel like a nightmare as his Mariners fell a game short of the World Series after losing to the Blue Jays, 4-3, in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night.

The switch-hitting catcher belted 60 home runs during the regular season and then added five more in the postseason. His last dinger came in the Game 7 loss when he gave the Mariners a 3-1 lead with a solo shot to right field in the fifth inning.

Raleigh was understandably emotional after the loss. He fought through tears while talking to reporters at his locker, calling the season a "failure" after the team fell short of its ultimate goal of winning a championship.

“I’m super proud of these guys. It was a great team effort. I love every guy in this room but ultimately it’s not what we wanted," Raleigh said when asked to sum up his team's year. "I hate to use the word failure, but it’s a failure. We expected to get to the World Series and win the World Series and that’s what the bar is and what the standard is and it’s what we want to hold ourselves accountable to but yeah, it hurts. But I don’t want that to take away—like I said I’m proud of the guys in the room, I thought we fought all the way to the end and like I said I think it’s a great group of guys and I love every single one of them."

Here's that emotional post-game interview.

While Raleigh was rightfully bummed out with how his season came to an end, he could still very well win the AL MVP award thanks to his monstrous year.

The Mariners, however, will be kicking themselves for a while about how they fell just short of making it to the World Series. The took a 3-2 series lead over the Blue Jays with a win at home in Game 5 but then were not able to get one more win on the road as that 3-1 lead in Game 7 was wiped out by a three-run home run in the seventh inning by Toronto's George Springer.

The Blue Jays will now face the Dodgers in the World Series with Game 1 taking place Friday night in Toronto.

More MLB on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cal Raleigh Used the Saddest Word to Describe Mariners’ Season After Game 7 Loss .

Test hyperlink for boilerplate