Mariners week: Castillo lifts Seattle to weekend sweep

Published 3:17 pm Monday, June 3, 2024

Retiring his final eight hitters in order, Luis Castillo exited T-Mobile Park’s mound to an ovation from 35,990 in Sunday’s seventh inning. It wasn’t “La Piedra’s” sharpest outing — but his sparkling box score and seven-inning shutout were indisputable.

The Seattle Mariners’ workhorse had blanked the Angels across seven strong, the catalyst for the completion of a three-game sweep over division-rival Los Angeles. Atypical command backed him into unwanted full counts, but The Rock slipped out of every jam.

When Castillo walked a pair of batters and promptly escaped the fourth, pitching coach Pete Woodworth told his starter: “You’re going a little fast,” Castillo recalled through translator Freddy Llanos. “Find a pace, and maintain that rhythm.”

And so Castillo cruised, calming fears that manager Scott Servais would have to call on the bullpen by the fifth. None of the right-hander’s two hits or three walks scored. Castillo generated 21 total whiffs, leaning on a marquee four-seamer that generated 13, and threw his best frames in the sixth and seventh.

Castillo guided Seattle’s rotation to another mark in the record books. Castillo, Bryan Woo, and Bryce Miller became the first trio to post scoreless outings in each of a three-game series or longer for the first time in franchise history.

“Luis Castillo, wow,” Mariners manager Scott Servais began.

“Early in the ball game, third or fourth inning, that’s not Luis Castillo’s A game, so to speak. High pitch count, deep counts, (and) just didn’t have the command we normally see. … Credit to Woody, our pitching coach. Asked (Luis) to make an adjustment, he did it, and The Rock was as good as he was all day in the last two innings he was out there.”

Outfielder Luke Raley homered in the fourth inning, and Mitch Garver laced a bases-clearing double in the eighth to complete Sunday’s 5-1 win and weekend sweep of the Halos. The series’ first pair of games each featured a distinct hero: Ty France lifted a game-winning solo home run in the eighth inning of Friday’s 5-4 win, and J.P. Crawford launched a grand slam in Saturday’s 9-0 rout.

The Mariners improved to a season-best 34-27 and control a four-game lead in the American League West. Seattle has won seven straight home series at T-Mobile Park.

Bliss gets the call

In December of 2014, when second baseman Ryan Bliss was just 14 years old, the teenage major-league hopeful replied to a Twitter post of Seattle’s T-Mobile Park: “My dream,” he said with a smiling emoji. “One day.”

Nearly a decade later, Bliss turned that dream into reality. His major-league debut fittingly arrived in Seattle on May 27, 2024, nearly a decade after Bliss, now 24, messaged the Mariners on social media.

Surrounded by reporters in his new clubhouse last Monday, Bliss couldn’t stop smiling. In the wake of second baseman Jorge Polanco’s move to the 10-day injured list (right hamstring strain), Bliss was called up for the very first time. He had been everyday infielder for Triple-A Tacoma since his acquisition in last summer’s Paul Sewald trade with the Diamondbacks.

“I’m still smiling about it,” Bliss said. “The words that you’ve been waiting to hear. You’re going to the big leagues.”

A speedster with surprising pop for his 5-foot-7 frame, Bliss considers himself the “spark plug” that reaches base and manufactures traffic. He’ll barrel the occasional homer without a home-run swing, and has already nurtured a rapport with respected infield coach Perry Hill for defensive work throughout spring training in Arizona.

In last Tuesday’s come-from-behind win over Houston, Bliss drew a crucial, eighth-inning walk that passed the baton and helped produce three runs. He patiently drew four total walks throughout the week before driving his first major league hit to right-center in Seattle’s 9-0 blowout of the Angels.

Brant Brown out as bench coach, OC

Seattle hitters believe greener pastures are ahead — but they will be forced to move forward without their first-year offensive mind.

The Mariners relieved bench coach and offensive coordinator Brant Brown of his duties before Friday’s game. Brown is a five-year playing veteran who was hired just six months ago after spending six seasons on major league coaching staffs with the Dodgers (2018-22) and Marlins (2023).

Brown, 52, directed a Mariners offense that ranks among the league’s worst in major categories: strikeouts (worst), hits (28th), runs (27th), and batting average (28th). Seattle hitters praised his baseball IQ and understanding of swing mechanics.

It was an admittedly difficult Friday for Servais, Brown’s former teammate. “It’s not all Brant’s fault by any means,” he said. “We just wanted to make a change there, a different voice.

“I think we measure ourselves against ourselves, especially where we’re at this point in the season. Not so much that we’re in first place, but we just know we’re capable of so much more.”

Director of hitting strategy Jarret DeHart and assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph will expand on their roles with hitters, per the team’s release, but Servais said the Mariners will look to “add another set of hands.”