Mariners squeeze by Blue Jays 2-1 as Luis Castillo dominates

The Mariners carried over the momentum from their series finale versus the Orioles, to make it two wins in a row after beating the Blue Jays.

As always when it comes to the Seattle Mariners, any hope or expectations must be approached with caution. If there’s one franchise in the Majors — and indeed all four major North American professional sports leagues — that can find a way to mess things up, the Mariners are always in the mix.

Despite this however, let’s at least enjoy the moment, with the Mariners beginning to provide some reason for optimism again around the Pacific Northwest. First, they concluded their previous series with an impressive 7-3 victory, versus a Baltimore Orioles ball club which leads the American League in wins.

Now, the Mariners have started their next series with another win, this time against the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, a 2-1 victory might not sound too ‘sexy’, but it still represents two on the trot for a ball club desperately in need of some positive fortune after watching their 10.0 game lead at the top of the AL West shrink all the way down to 2.0 games.

The Mariners lineup did decently enough in getting on base, with eight hits and five walks. However, with just two runs from these opportunities — a Luke Raley two-RBI double in the bottom of the third — they were going to need some help.

‘La Piedra’ proves unbreakable

That help came from Luis Castillo, a player in his own right who needed a big game. Consider that June was a nightmare month for the righty, as he produced a poor 5.13 ERA in six starts, with the Mariners outright losing four of those games.

However, Castillo was able to put all of his woes behind him, as he looked more like his usual self against the Blue Jays. In 6.2 innings — his longest start since his first one in June — he allowed just two hits and a couple of walks.

Most importantly though, the three-time All-Star only gave up the one aforementioned run. In total he threw 104 pitches — his most of the 2024 season — and struck out eight batters.

Castillo was outstanding for the majority of his outing on Friday night, which represented the 200th start of his Major League career. In fact he didn’t allow a single hit until Kevin Kiermaier’s solo blast in the top of the sixth, which pulled the Blue Jays to within 2-1.

Successful new addition to Castillo’s arsenal

One thing in particular which came out of the 31-year-old’s outing, was the success with a new grip on his slider. Clearly he needed something to help him, after his recent struggles.

Castillo discussed the new addition to his arsenal with the media postgame. Through his interpreter, he said:

“It helps a lot, the fastball coming in around 96, 97, and that changeup coming in around 85. But then this new slider that I’ve got coming in even slower, it gives me three different varieties of speed to play with. It just keeps them on their toes.”

Castillo explained how the tweak came about, after a conversation with the coaching staff. He said:

“Yesterday we were doing some work and the pitching coach came up to me and asked me, ‘How do you hold your slider?’ I showed it to him and he told me, ‘Why not try it this way?’ I did it, I threw it and I threw it tonight and it gave us good results.”

There were some early teething problems with the modified slider against the Blue Jays, before all the kinks were worked out. Mariners manager Scott Servais said:

“After the first couple, I looked at Pete Woodworth and said, ‘What do we (have) here?’ and he said, ‘Ah don’t worry about it. Let’s see how it plays out’. I thought that the speed variation between the slider and the fastball really helped him tonight.”

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A team victory for the Mariners

After Castillo left, it was still up to the Mariners bullpen to make the 2-1 lead hold up. And they did just that in final style, as Austin Voth, Ryne Stanek and Andrés Muñoz combined to pitch 2.1 innings and not allow a single hit or walk.

Servais was more than happy that the Mariners stuck together and worked hard to secure the win. He said:

“Really good effort all the way around tonight and hopefully it continues. It’s a crazy game and (you’ve) just got to keep grinding every day. Our guys are doing a nice job of that, and hopefully we get after them again tomorrow.”

With two more games to play against a Blue Jays ball club seemingly in free fall, it’s up to the Mariners to take full advantage. They will send Emerson Hancock to the mound on Saturday afternoon, in what will be a good test for the 2020 sixth overall draft pick.

Do two wins in a row give you confidence in the Mariners’ ability to hold onto their lead at the top of the AL West? Or do the surging Astros have you nervous about how it will all play out? Let us know in the comments section below.