TORONTO – After striking out in his seemingly effortless manner in the seventh inning, slamming three-figure fastballs past hitters with terrifying moves, freezing them with knee-buckling sliders, and doing a few shake-your-head changes, only but because he could, Luis Castillo grinned, took off his hat and offered his signature fist pump that looks like a celebratory uppercut.
This is why the Mariners made acquiring the 29-year-old right-hander their priority on the Major League Baseball trade deadline—this setting, this moment, this achievement.
Always at ease on the mound regardless of the situation with a resting heart rate that seems to remain, Castillo delivered the best post-season pitching performance in Mariners team history. And this is an organization that Randy Johnson had.
Castillo became the first Mariners pitcher to pitch seven-plus shutout innings in a postseason game, dominating and demoralizing a stacked Blue Jays lineup in the process, leading the Mariners to a stunning 4-0 win in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series.
With the win, the Mariners are a win by moving into the American League Division Series and guaranteeing at least one post-season game at T-Mobile Park.
Left-handed Robbie Ray gets the start for Seattle against his former team, and Toronto is now forced to start right-handed Kevin Gausman, who shunned an offer from the Mariners to replace Ray in the Blue Jays rotation.
Castillo threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up six hits without a walk, a hit batter and five strikeouts.
When the transaction closed and was announced on July 29, there were some complaints that the Mariners had given up too much prospective capital.
And as Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners president of baseball operations, admitted feeling “slightly more aggressive” than hurt to relinquish four prospects, including his top two shortstop prospects — Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo.
But playoff performance means more than prospect potential and future production.
When Castillo threw some clumsy outings against the A’s, there was some grumbling about whether he was really worth it, forgetting about his performances against the Yankees and Padres.
But in the bright lights and intense microscope of the late season, he was at his best. Since Felix Hernandez’s scoop, the Mariners haven’t had a starting pitcher with the ability to stun hitters like Castillo can.
Given a 3-0 lead in the first inning, Castillo could be even more aggressive against the Blue Jays hitters, using his video game moves and four-pitch repertoire.
After knocking out Whit Merrifield to start the eighth inning, Castillo drove a 98 mph fastball up and down George Springer. The ball hit Springer on the hand.
Because he didn’t want to take any chances with Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr. facing Castillo for the fourth time, manager Scott Servais went to his bullpen. He called on Andres Munoz to finish the frame. Munoz threw sliders from 93 mph and fastballs from 103 mph and caused Bichette to fly to the right and knock Guerrero to a short stop to end the threat. Munoz returned for the ninth inning,
In his pre-start press conference Wednesday afternoon, the Blue Jays’ Alek Manoah was asked about the pressure of pitching in the first playoff game of his MLB career.
“I’ve had some coaches say pressure is what you put in your tires,” Manoah said.
Those “wise” words from his coaches were not necessarily correct, you actually put air in your tires and the pressure is the measured amount of air inflated.
For Manoah, the pressure the Mariners put on him and the Blue Jays in the first inning is as he struggled to harness his adrenaline and emotions.
That was noticeable when he went up 0-2 against Julio Rodriguez. After Rodriguez made a mistake on a sinker that had to be thrown low and away and landed way above the strike area, Manoah threw another fastball that went up and in, hitting Rodriguez with his left hand, where he was wearing a protective pad.
After Ty France’s ground ball moved to first base to Rodriguez to second base, Eugenio Suarez took advantage of a 95 mph fastball left center of the plate, threading a double into right field to give Seattle a 1-0 to give an advantage.
As Rodriguez raced home, the deafening noise from the 47,402 fans in attendance was silenced, and the cheers of the Mariners dugouts and the fans scattered intermittently throughout the stadium could be heard.
It brought Cal Raleigh on the board. A week ago, he hit the biggest homer in Mariners recent history, a walkoff shot that captured the team’s first playoff spot in 21 years. That moment, which will be immortalized on highlights that tell the history of the Mariners, was the greatest of his career…to date.
1-2 in the count, he worked his way back into the at bat by refusing to chase two very bad offers from Manoah meant to get him swinging. Neither was very close.
When Manoah left a 3-2 sinker in the middle of the plate on his belt, Raleigh crushed a homer similar to his walkoff from a week ago. The towering blast stayed in the right field foul post, landing in the second deck of stunned and silenced Blue Jays fans.
Where would this team be without the somewhat unexpected performances of Suarez and Raleigh? The Mariners would probably look to the postseason for the 22nd straight season instead.
Manoah ended Seattle’s fun, as Mitch Haniger grounded out to third place and Carlos Santana struckout. As he walked down the hill. A disgusted Manoah knew he might have forfeited his team’s chances before they even saw a throw from Castillo.
As expected, Manoah was able to settle in and find the command that made him one of the best pitchers in the American League. But Seattle got an important insurance run in the fifth inning. With one out, he hit Rodriguez with a pitch for the second time in the game. Ty France followed with a single to rightfield and Rodriguez advanced to third base. Suarez drove in his second run of the game with a soft bounce that didn’t allow third baseman Matt Chapman to throw home or turn a double play. The Mariners led 4-0.
Manoah left the game with two outs in the sixth inning, after giving up the four runs on only four hits with a walk, two hit batters and four strikeouts. Manoah had allowed only four earned runs in his last six starts and 41 innings pitched in the month of September.
This story is being updated.
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