OAKLAND, Calif. — Two days ago, as they packed for the final road trip of the regular season, the disappointment and uncertainty couldn’t go unnoticed in the Mariners’ clubhouse at T-Mobile Park.
They had just been swept by the Dodgers in a three-game series and appeared to have blown any chance of winning the American League West title while putting a return to the postseason in doubt.
They were 2½ games behind the first-place Astros and essentially two games out of the third wild-card spot, one game behind the Rangers, who also had the temporary tiebreaker advantage.
There was a fear not felt since late June. And in the fan base? Well, that was a combination of dissatisfaction, depression and ridicule. Your own stages of grief.
And then baseball happened.
When the Mariners earned their comfortable 7-2 win over the A’s at the mostly empty Oakland Coliseum on Tuesday night, they were a half-game behind the Astros (84-68), who had lost six of their last eight games. for the division lead with the same record as the Rangers at 83-68.
The A’s playing was beneficial for Seattle, as was the Astros playing the Orioles.
“The goal was to come here and win the series, but we have to get the win tomorrow because we still have a lot of big games left,” manager Scott Servais said.
The Mariners got another strong outing from starter Luis Castillo in a season filled with them. He pitched seven innings and allowed two runs – both in his final inning of work – on five hits with three walks and eight strikeouts to improve to 14-7 on the season.
“I can’t say enough about the season Luiis Castillo had,” said Servais. “He keeps expanding it. Another great trip this evening. He was so solid. He is the rock. He’s in great shape right now.”
Castillo has thrown at least five complete innings in each of his 31 starts this season.
“That’s really what the Cy Young pitcher does,” Servais said. “He’s the guy that every time you put him on the floor, he not only gives you a chance to win, but he also gets deep into ball games. Whatever we needed from Luis on that particular night, maybe our bullpen was tired and he needed to go deep, he did it.”
When Castillo struck out Shea Langeliers in the start of the second inning, his first of the game, he reached 200 strikeouts for the season. It was only the second time in his career that he surpassed this milestone. In 2019, he struck out 226 batters in 32 starts.
With the Mariners expected to remain in contention for a postseason spot until the end, he will likely make two more starts in the regular season – Monday against the Astros in Seattle and possibly Saturday, September 30, against the Rangers. It will likely put him over the 200 innings mark for a season, a rarity for starting pitchers in baseball’s current era.
“For me, the innings are more important,” Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “I mean 200 innings, that just shows how much a pitcher has gone out and competed. For me this is a little more important. The strikeouts will come if you go out there and last a long time.”
Castillo wasn’t particularly sharp to start, allowing baserunners to reach in three of his first four innings of work. He got help from his defense team.
Catcher Cal Raleigh erased singles by Esteury Ruiz and Tony Kemp by throwing both to second on stolen base attempts. Raleigh made a strong, low throw as Ruiz, who entered the game with 61 stolen bases, reached second. Shortstop JP Crawford made a smart choice on the short hop and used a quick tag for the out. Raleigh’s throw to second on Kemp’s attempt was high. But second baseman Josh Rojas made a diving attack and reached between his legs to tag Kemp.
“Really athletic games and our midfielders are really smart and have a feel for the game,” Servais said. “Cal had a really good year defensively. I know we had trouble throwing guys out at the beginning of the year. But lately he is very accurate and fast. Our pitchers also give him a chance. It works out.”
Castillo got another unexpected out when Jarred Kelenic sprinted through the expanse of foul territory on the left side of the field, dodging home plate in the bullpen and a guard, to make a fantastic catch on a pop-up.
“I’ve made a catch like that before,” Kelenic said. “It was one of those where you immediately thought it was a foul. But I never gave up. I just kept going and luckily I made it.”
The Mariners offense provided some late run support, scoring four runs in the seventh inning to turn an early 2-0 mark into a 6-0 lead.
Against right-hander Paul Blackburn, Kelenic delivered two RBI singles for the early lead.
“I was just trying to get the ball into the zone and play it somewhere outfield,” Kelenic said.
Servais was impressed with the approach to getting those pitches.
“I thought Jarred did a great job taking away throws to get in the counts and get the ball up,” Servais said. “He handles the ball very well in situations like this. He hit some pitches and just served them in left field. That’s all we needed. We don’t need a big home run there, just keep the line moving and get those guys in scoring position.”
Seattle made it more comfortable in the seventh, highlighted by a run-scoring double to deep right-center by Crawford, RBI singles by Raleigh and Teoscar Hernandez and a free run on a wild pitch.
Crawford hit his 16th home run of the season in the ninth inning.
“It took a while for JP to get going,” Servais said. “But these extra runs really help.”
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