With 13 games over the next 14 days, the Seattle Mariners plan to shelve their Bryce Miller/Luis Castillo piggyback experiment for a six-man rotation.
However unpopular the piggyback might have been for those involved, there’s no denying it worked.
Miller and Castillo each threw 71 pitches over five innings Sunday as the Mariners defeated the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 in 10 innings.
The American League West-leading Mariners, winners of six in a row, will play host to the New York Mets in a three-game interleague series beginning Monday at T-Mobile Park.
The duo combined for a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings across three games.
“Both these guys deserve a huge pat on the back for the way they’ve approached it and just been selfless in a lot of ways,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
Miller, who allowed one hit and no runs Sunday, tried to take a big-picture approach.
“The piggyback thing hasn’t been ideal for all of us so far, but it’s also like it could be a blessing in disguise, saving us a few pitches here and there, a few innings here and there,” Miller said. “Hopefully it works out (where) at the end of the year, we’re feeling fresh and ready to go into the postseason.”
Added Castillo, through an interpreter: “There were a couple obstacles, but the good thing for me is that we were able to overcome them. The important thing for me is that I’m healthy and we’re throwing the ball right.”
Cole Young and Dominic Canzone hit solo homers for Seattle and Victor Robles drove in the winning run in extra innings with an infield single.
The Mets are coming off a three-game sweep of Miami and have won four straight overall. New York won 10-1 Sunday as Juan Soto hit a grand slam.
“The whole lineup came ready to attack,” Soto said.
Carson Benge hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first and Marcus Semien added a two-run shot. Every Mets starter reached safely and eight of nine scored.
The Mets scored 25 runs in the series.
“We had a tough series against the same team last weekend, when basically we didn’t do anything offensively,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “For us to make that adjustment quickly and put up that type of performance the whole weekend, it was just good to see.”
The Mets plan to give right-hander Austin Warren (1-1, 1.40 ERA) his first career start Monday, likely as an opener before using Sean Manaea (0-1, 5.56) as a bulk reliever. Warren is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in three career appearances against Seattle; Manaea is 8-8 with a 4.04 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) versus the M’s.
The Mariners will counter with right-hander Emerson Hancock (4-2, 2.78). He anchored a 4-1 victory against the Athletics last Tuesday, allowing one hit over six scoreless innings. Hancock will meet the Mets for the first time.
–Field Level Media
