SEATTLE -- The Mariners had one extra-inning comeback in them on Saturday afternoon, thanks to Randy Arozarena’s leadoff two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning against Texas closer Robert Garcia.
But they didn’t have another one up their sleeve in the 11th, ultimately losing 6-4 in their fourth game against the Rangers to go to extra innings this season.
“For whatever reason, when we get together with Texas, we tend to play some close games,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
Casey Legumina gave up three straight singles -- only one of which had an exit velocity over 85 mph -- to begin the top of the 11th, allowing two runs to come home before Caleb Ferguson got the final two outs of the frame.
Prior to that, Matt Brash allowed two bloop singles and a weak RBI groundout in the top of the 10th, breaking a streak of eight consecutive games without an earned run allowed by the bullpen.
“I thought the bullpen threw the ball really well,” Wilson said. “A lot of soft contact there in the extra innings. Balls found holes and that was kind of the difference.”
Overall, seven Mariners relievers combined to cover 20 outs, after starter Luis Castillo went just 4 1/3 innings before being pulled with his pitch count at 87. He ended up with two runs on his final ledger on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
“I think the pitches were fine; I think I only gave up one walk,” Castillo said through an interpreter. “This is just a team that made a lot of contact, made a lot of foul balls and had me up there continuing to battle and battle.”
Castillo ended up facing full counts to seven batters, four of which came in a 37-pitch third inning that saw him having to bounce back after allowing a two-run homer to Kyle Higashioka. He managed to limit the damage to just the two runs, but he came out of the frame well behind schedule in terms of his pitch count.
“You come in with that mentality where you know that the next inning, you have to get out of it in the least amount of pitches possible,” Castillo said. “That’s what happened right after that inning.”
Castillo worked around a double to get out of the fourth on 11 pitches. He got one out in the fifth, but with Corey Seager -- who saw 19 pitches across his first two at-bats -- due up, Wilson turned to his bullpen, ending a start that matched the veteran right-hander's shortest this season.
The Rangers finished with 24 foul balls against Castillo (one off his season high) and just six swings-and-misses (tied for his second fewest this season). It’s the second time Texas has done this to him; on May 3, the Rangers tapped 25 fouls off him and limited him to a season-low two whiffs.
“It didn’t stress me out,” Castillo said. “It kind of indicates that it was a good pitch, if they were able to hit the ball and the ball went foul.”
It was the second consecutive grind of a start at home for the 32-year-old, a mini-trend that flies in the face of how the man known in Seattle as The Rock began the season.
Prior to the All-Star break, Castillo had logged a 2.29 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP in 10 starts in the friendly confines of T-Mobile Park, allowing 15 runs on 39 hits in 59 innings. On the road, it was another story for the right-hander, whose ERA went up to 4.74 and WHIP ballooned to 1.54.
Coming out of the break, the Mariners reset their rotation to give Castillo the first game back -- in part because it gave Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby slightly more rest, but also because it meant that Castillo would be the one in the rotation to get two starts at home in a six-game homestand.
The plan started off perfectly, with Castillo firing 6 2/3 scoreless innings and striking out seven against the Astros for his sixth consecutive quality start at home on July 18. But when the rotation wrapped back around for the series finale against the Brewers on the July 23, he had a rougher go of it, allowing six runs (three earned) on a season-high-matching 10 hits.
As the Mariners' rotation stands, Castillo is set to get another start in front of the home crowd to open Seattle’s set against Tampa Bay next Friday, and the Mariners will hope The Rock can go back to cooking at home like he so often has.
“He gets a lot of contact on the two-seam and swing-and-miss on the four,” Wilson said. “That’s a really good combination. Especially in our ballpark, that plays really well.”