Mariners win — dominant performance from pitcher Luis Castillo keys victory over Blue Jays
The Mariners secured their first postseason win in more than two decades Friday in Toronto.
Seattle scored three runs in the top of the first, and added another in the fifth in an eventual 4-0 victory over the Blue Jays in the first game of the best-of-three wild-card series at Rogers Centre.
Luis Castillo tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings for the Mariners in the win. Seattle’s newest ace, acquired at the summer trade deadline from Cincinnati, allowed six hits, but no extra-base hits, did not walk a batter and struck out five on 108 pitches.
Andres Munoz pitched the final 1 2/3 for Seattle, and struck out two in the shutout win.
The Mariners got on the board quickly in the first. Rookie Julio Rodriguez was hit by a pitch in the game’s first at-bat and later scored on a one-out double to right by Eugenio Suarez, giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead they never lost.
Cal Raleigh, one week after clinching Seattle’s first postseason trip since 2001 with a walk-off home run against the A’s at T-Mobile Park, then crushed another home run in his first career postseason at-bat.
The towering two-run blast on an Alek Manoah sinker pushed Seattle’s lead to 3-0 with one out in the first.
The Mariners added a fourth run in the fifth. Rodriguez was hit by a pitch a second time with one out in the inning, advanced to third on a Ty France single and then scored when Suarez grounded into a fielder’s choice.
The win is Seattle’s first in the postseason since a victory over the Yankees in the American League Championship Series on Oct. 20, 2001 in New York. It was the Mariners’ first postseason shutout since Oct. 10, 2000 in the first game of the ALCS, also against the Yankees in New York.
The Mariners are now one win away from advancing to the AL Division Series, which begins Tuesday against the AL West champion Astros in Houston.
Game 2 of the wild-card series is set for 1:07 p.m. Pacific on Saturday in Toronto, and will be televised on ESPN.
Left-hander Robbie Ray, who won the AL Cy Young Award last season while with the Blue Jays, is scheduled to start for Seattle.
Read all of the live updates from Seattle’s Game 1 win below:
Update, 4:10 p.m. — Following a stellar start from Luis Castillo, reliever Andres Munoz closed out a 4-0 shutout win for the Mariners in Game 1. Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh each drove in two runs for Seattle in the victory.
The win is Seattle’s first in the postseason since a 14-3 victory over the Yankees in the American League Championship Series on Oct. 20, 2001 in New York. It was the first shutout the Mariners have recorded in the playoffs since Oct. 10, 2000 in the first game of the ALCS against the Yankees in New York.
Game 2 in Toronto is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. Pacific on Saturday and will be televised on ESPN. The Mariners can advance to the AL Division Series with a win.
Update, 3:47 p.m. — Andres Munoz recorded two quick outs in relief for the Mariners in the eighth to retire the side. The final line on Seattle starter Luis Castillo —7 1/3 innings pitched, six hits, five strikeouts on 108 pitches. Castillo faced 28 batters, and did not allow a run, extra-base hit or walk.
Update, 3:40 p.m. — The Mariners will head to the bullpen with one out in the eighth. Seattle starter Luis Castillo tossed 108 pitches across 7 1/3 innings, and leaves the game with a 4-0 lead and one runner on base after George Springer reached on a hit by pitch. Andres Munoz will enter in relief for Seattle.
Update, 3:19 p.m. — Luis Castillo struck out the side in the seventh, sending Matt Chapman, Raimel Tapia and Danny Jansen all back to the dugout on swinging strikes. Seattle’s starter has retired the past seven Blue Jays batters, and completed seven scoreless frames.
Update, 3:08 p.m. — Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez collected his first career postseason hit with two outs in the seventh, singling to left on a Yimi Garcia slider. Rodriguez finished just behind club leader Ty France (152 hits) with 145 hits during the regular season. He was hit by pitches in two earlier at-bats in the first and fifth, and scored in both innings.
Update, 2:52 p.m. — The Blue Jays made a call to the bullpen with two outs in the sixth. Starter Alek Manoah allowed four runs on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts on 79 pitches across 5 2/3 innings. Left-hander Tim Mayza entered the game in relief for Toronto, and needed one pitch to end the frame. Seattle’s lead remains at 4-0.
Update, 2:44 p.m. — Mariners starter Luis Castillo ended another Toronto scoring threat in the fifth to keep Seattle’s lead at 4-0. After Whit Merrifield dropped a two-out single into left — ending a string of six consecutive batters retired by Castillo — George Springer followed up with an infield base hit. But, Castillo worked out of the jam, getting a groundout to second from Bo Bichette moments later.
Update, 2:32 p.m. — Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah retired nine consecutive Mariners batters before Julio Rodriguez reached base with one out in the fifth after being hit by a pitch for the second time in three at-bats. Ty France followed up with a single to right to move Rodriguez to third, and the Mariners rookie scored when Eugenio Suarez grounded into a fielder’s choice moments later to push Seattle’s lead to 4-0.
Update, 2:09 p.m. — The Mariners got two quick outs in the third, but back-to-back base hits from George Springer and Bo Bichette brought the tying run to the plate in Blue Jays regular season home run leader Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Luis Castillo calmly worked through the at-bat, ending the frame with a fly out to center to keep Toronto scoreless.
Update, 1:52 p.m. — Alejandro Kirk led off the bottom of the second with Toronto’s first hit of the game, ripping a sinker for a ground ball just fair down the right field line. The Mariners responded by turning a quick 5-4-3 double play on a Teoscar Hernandez grounder on the next pitch. Matt Chapman then blooped a single into shallow center, but Luis Castillo got a fly out from Raimel Tapia to end the inning. Seattle still leads, 3-0.
Update, 1:35 p.m. — Mariners starter Luis Castillo tossed a 1-2-3 first inning, getting groundouts from George Springer, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on an efficient 11 pitches.
Update, 1:18 p.m. — One week ago, Cal Raleigh guaranteed the Mariners would return to the postseason for the first time since 2001 with a walk-off home run against the A’s at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Friday afternoon, he opened the first postseason game of his career by launching a two-run home run in his first plate appearance in Toronto. Raleigh crushed a 3-2 sinker over the wall in right for a one-out homer that also scored Eugenio Suarez. The Mariners have a 3-0 lead with one out in the first.
Raleigh’s home run was Seattle’s first in a postseason game since Bret Boone launched a solo homer in the eighth in a loss to the Yankees on Oct. 21, 2001 in New York in the American League Championship Series.
Update, 1:13 p.m. — The Mariners are on the board in the first. Julio Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to lead off the game, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice from Ty France and scored on a one-out double by Eugenio Suarez. Suarez sent a fastball from Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah down the right field line to give Seattle the early 1-0 lead.
When Rodriguez scored on Suarez’s RBI double in the first, it marked the first run the Mariners have scored in a postseason game since Ichiro Suzuki singled in Carlos Guillen in the seventh inning of a season-ending loss to the Yankees on Oct. 22, 2001 in New York in the American League Championship Series.
Update, 12:07 p.m. — First pitch is one hour away in Toronto. Here’s a look at both the Mariners and Blue Jays starting lineups:
Game 1 preview — The drought is over, the Mariners are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2001, and the moment is finally here.
Seattle opens its postseason run with a wild-card series against the Blue Jays on Friday afternoon.
The best-of-three series will be played in its entirety at Rogers Centre in Toronto, with the winner advancing to play Houston in the American League Division Series.
First pitch Friday is set for 1:07 p.m. Pacific, and will be televised on ESPN.
Right-hander Luis Castillo (8-6, 2.99 ERA in regular season) is set to take the mound for the Mariners, more than 7,600 days after their last postseason game on Oct. 22, 2001 in New York.
Castillo, a two-time All-Star with the Reds, starred for Cincinnati for five-plus seasons before joining the Mariners ahead of the trade deadline, has strengthened Seattle’s rotation in 11 starts since and recently agreed to a five-year extension with the club.
Friday, Castillo is set to oppose a Blue Jays lineup that led the majors in batting average (.264) and hits this season, and the AL in both on-base percentage (.329) and slugging percentage (.431).
Shortstop Bo Bichette led Toronto in runs scored (91), hits (189) and doubles (43) this summer, while first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led the club with 32 blasts and a team-leading 97 RBI. Five players hit 20-plus home runs this season.
The Blue Jays have more contributors up and down the lineup. Toronto had four position players named All-Stars this summer in Guerrero and catcher Alejandro Kirk — who both started for the AL team — and second baseman Santiago Espinal and center fielder George Springer.
Right-hander Alek Manoah (16-7, 2.24), a first-round pick by Toronto in 2019, who is now in his second season in the majors after quickly climbing through the Blue Jays’ minor league system and was an All-Star this summer, is set to start for Toronto.
Manoah tossed a quality start against the Mariners in July in his one appearance against the club this season, though Seattle picked up a 2-1 win.
The Mariners will look for a quick start in Toronto this weekend behind a lineup that includes a pair of All-Stars in star rookie center fielder Julio Rodriguez and first baseman Ty France, as well as third baseman Eugenio Suarez and more.
Rodriguez was the club leader among qualified players with a .284/.345/.509 slash line in the regular season, as well as runs scored (65) and stolen bases (25). France led the Mariners in hits (152) and doubles (27), while Suarez paced Seattle in home runs (31) and RBI (87).
The Blue Jays (92-70) clinched the top AL wild-card spot earlier this week, while the Mariners (90-72) earned the league’s second wild-card spot.
Seattle won the season series between the two clubs, 5-2, including sweeping the Blue Jays when they visited T-Mobile Park in early July as part of a memorable 14-game winning streak.
This is the first time the two clubs — both major league expansion teams in 1977 — have met in the postseason.
Robbie Ray, who won the AL Cy Young Award last season with the Blue Jays, is Seattle’s scheduled starter for Game 2.
Second-year starter Logan Gilbert is listed as the Mariners’ probable pitcher for Game 3, should it be necessary.
Game 2 is set for Saturday afternoon, and if necessary, Game 3 will be played Sunday.
Follow along with us all afternoon for live updates from Friday’s first game of the series.
This story was originally published October 7, 2022 at 9:38 AM.
