Luis Castillo allowed one hit over six scoreless innings as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Leadoff hitter J.P. Crawford went 2 for 4 with a double and scored twice as the Mariners won for the fifth time in their past six games.
It was quite a turnaround after the Pirates tied a franchise-record with seven home runs in an 11-6 victory Friday night in the series opener.
The only hit Castillo (4-2) gave up came when Tucupita Marcano lined the first pitch of the game into the gap in left-center field, the ball rolling all the way to the wall for a double. Castillo struck out a season-high 10, issued two bases on balls and hit one batter with a pitch.
The Pirates’ Vince Velasquez (4-4), making his first appearance since May 4 after a stint on the injured list with elbow inflammation, lasted just two innings due to his elbow acting up. Velasquez gave up four runs on seven hits, with one walk and three strikeouts.
The Mariners scored three runs in the first inning. Crawford led off by lining a double to right and Ty France hit an RBI double to left. Two outs later, Eugenio Suarez hit a check-swing blooper to shallow right to plate France. Cal Raleigh grounded a single to center and Teoscar Hernandez doubled to left to make it 3-0.
In the second, Crawford grounded a one-out single to center and France walked. Julio Rodriguez followed with a run-scoring double to center to extend Seattle’s lead to 4-0.
The Mariners tacked on a run in the seventh as Rodriguez grounded a leadoff single into center, stole second and advanced to third on catcher Jason Delay’s throwing error. With one out, Suarez lifted a fly ball to center fielder Jack Suwinski, who appeared to throw Rodriguez out at the plate. The Mariners challenged the call and a video review determined Rodriguez reached the plate just before Delay made the tag, making it 5-0.
Mariners relievers Gabe Speier, Matt Brash, Trevor Gott and Justin Topa combined to allow one hit over the final three innings, an infield single by Suwinski leading off the seventh, with one walk and seven strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
