Luis Castillo pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out a season-high eight batters as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 on Saturday evening.
It was the second consecutive shutout for the Mariners, who improved to 4-2 on their seven-game homestand. The Pirates have lost two straight after a six-game winning streak.
The Mariners broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning off reliever Caleb Ferguson (2-1). Jorge Polanco led off with a double down the left-field line and took third on Luke Raley’s groundout to the right side of the infield. Ferguson then got pinch-hitter Donovan Solano to ground out to drawn-in third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, keeping Polanco at third, before rookie Ben Williamson hit an RBI double into the gap in right-center.
After Cole Young was hit by a pitch and J.P. Crawford walked to load the bases, Isaac Mattson replaced Ferguson and struck out Julio Rodriguez to end the inning.
Castillo (5-5) allowed just two hits — both to leadoff hitter Spencer Horwitz — and didn’t walk a batter. Of his 99 pitches, 67 were strikes.
Mariners reliever Matt Brash pitched a scoreless eighth despite a one-out walk and Andres Munoz struck out two in the ninth for his 20th save of the season.
Castillo, a right-hander, retired the first nine batters he faced before Horwitz lined a single to right field leading off the fourth. Castillo then struck out Andrew McCutchen and Brian Reynolds before getting Nick Gonzales to ground out to second to end the inning.
Horwitz singled to right with two outs in the sixth before McCutchen lined out to left.
McCutchen hit a deep drive to center in the first inning, but Rodriguez made a leaping catch before crashing into the wall.
Pirates starter Mike Burrows stranded seven runners over five scoreless innings. The right-hander allowed three hits, walked four and fanned six.
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, who leads the major leagues with 35 home runs, was walked three times, once intentionally. Raleigh struck out in his other plate appearance.
–Field Level Media
