SEATTLE -- For the second straight game at T-Mobile Park, the Mariners turned up the drama, walking off as 2-1 winners over the Twins on Sunday on a Randy Arozarena single.
And this time, they didn’t even need extra innings to do so.
“Another outstanding game,” manager Dan Wilson said. “Glad we finished this one in nine.”
Julio Rodríguez led off the bottom of the ninth with a chopper up the middle that Minnesota second baseman Kody Clemens couldn’t handle, putting the winning run on base for Cal Raleigh, who had already gone deep with his league-leading 23rd home run of the season. Raleigh struck out, but on the second pitch to Arozarena, Rodríguez bolted for second and took third when Ryan Jeffers’ throw sailed into the outfield.
“All the credit goes to Julio, that he was able to get on base to lead off the inning and get into scoring position,” Arozarena said through translator Manny Acta.
That set the stage for Arozarena, who laced a Griffin Jax sinker back up the middle through the drawn-in infield for his second walk-off hit as a Mariner.
The win gave the Mariners the series victory over the Twins and let Seattle keep its half-game lead over Houston in the AL West standings.
“We talk about the little things a lot,” Wilson said. “Sometimes we get the big hit, and sometimes we do the little things that make a big difference. Today, it was the little things. Getting on base, stealing a bag, forcing the error and getting to third base with one out.
“Then Randy doing his job and making contact up the middle. When you’ve got a team that can do the big things and the little things, that’s a good team, and that’s what we have in that clubhouse.”
Raleigh took care of the big things, giving the Mariners their only offense before that when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and curled a first-pitch curveball from Chris Paddack into the right-field bleachers. It was the catcher’s third straight game with a home run; he’s the third player this season to have multiple three-game homer streaks, joining the Dodges’ Shohei Ohtani and the Angels’ Logan O’Hoppe.
Raleigh made contact with the pitch 1.42 feet off the ground, the second-lowest pitch he has hit for a home run this season. It came less than 24 hours after his two-run homer Saturday came on the highest pitch he has homered on in his career.
“He just continues to grow and mature in this game,” Wilson said. “… You add that to what he does behind the plate in a game like this, he’s a real special player. He’s doing it all right now.”
That homer stood as the game’s only scoring until the top of the ninth, when the Twins scratched a run across against Andrés Muñoz, coming back to tie the score in the ninth for the third straight game.
Luis Castillo set the tone early, posting his fourth straight quality start with six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and a pair of walks and striking out five.
The 32-year-old right-hander averaged 95.7 mph on his four-seam fastball and 95.8 mph on his sinker -- both a touch down from his last outing in Houston, when he threw a season-high 114 pitches, but still noticeably higher than his season average, and more comparable to where he was in 2024.
“I feel really good physically,” Castillo said, via Acta. “I’m just going to do the things I’ve been doing and working hard. My arm feels great. Just doing what I can control.”
Those fastballs set up the rest of Castillo’s arsenal. The Twins swung at 10 of his sliders and missed on nine, his most whiffs on that pitch in a game since April 14, 2024. Minnesota also whiffed on the only changeup it swung at, giving “The Rock” a 90.1% whiff rate on his secondary pitches, the best of his career in a single game.
“When you’ve got the two fastballs like he does, and he’s got the velo on them like he did today, it makes the changeup and slider so much better,” Wilson said. “I thought he and Cal had a really good game plan against this team. They’ve got some lefties in there with a little bit of thump, and they went after them and had a good game plan against all of them.”