The chants of “Let’s go, Blue Jays!” could be heard throughout Friday evening, but they didn’t have the same enthusiasm as years past. And the usual throng of well-served fans that made the trek south from Canada seemed diminished by comparison, a reflection of the team’s underachieving season.
There was no complete takeover of T-Mobile Park, just a nettlesome invasion.
But in the ninth inning, the Blue Jays fans mixed into the announced crowd of 34,493 started up the familiar chant again, albeit somewhat halfhearted, trying to help their team rally.
But Andres Munoz and the contingent of boisterous Mariners fans intent on drowning out any sort of pro-Toronto support, made sure the chants never grew in decibel level or provided hope.
Pitching for the second straight day, the Mariners’ closer worked a 1-2-3 inning without drama to secure a quick and crisp 2-1 victory for the real home team.
“Really good effort all the way around tonight and hopefully it continues,” manager Scott Servais said. “It’s a crazy game and you just got to keep grinding every day. Our guys are doing a nice job of that, and hopefully we get after them again tomorrow.”
Seattle used a stellar outing from Luis Castillo and just enough offense to pick up a win in the series opener and maintain a two-game lead over the Houston Astros in the American League West standings.
Over his previous five outings, Castillo had posted 1-3 record with a 6.49 ERA. He had pitched six complete innings just once.
But using a new grip on his slider that he got from the pitching coaches Thursday, Castillo went out and implemented it into his repertoire with great success. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on only two hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Servais was admittedly concerned when Castillo threw a couple of sliders that registered at 82 and 83 mph.
“When he threw the first couple, I looked at [pitching coach] Pete Woodworth and said, ‘What do we got here?’ And he said: ‘Ah, don’t worry about it. Let’s see how it plays out.’ I thought that the speed variation between the slider and the fastball really helped him tonight.”
Castillo had been using the same grip on his slider since his first year in MLB in 2017. But he has struggled to locate the pitch for much of this season. So when the pitching coaches made the suggestion, he was willing to try it.
“Yesterday, we were doing some work and the pitching coach came up to me and asked me, ‘How do you hold your slider?'” Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “I showed it to him and he told me, ‘Why not try it this way?’ I did it, I threw it and I threw it tonight and it gave us good results.”
It didn’t get good action or results when he warmed up for his start.
“I think the first one in the bullpen the catcher didn’t move, it just went straight,” he said with a laugh. “But I just kept that positive mentality, threw it hard and made that change and used it in the game. It’s the same intent, same arm mechanic and same mentality.”
He didn’t know it until after he finished the sixth inning, but he’d held the Blue Jays hitless through 5 1/3 innings. Kevin Kiermaier broke up his bid with a solo homer to right.
“I didn’t know until Cal [Raleigh] told me that he thought we’d get a no-hitter tonight,” Castillo said.
The Mariners didn’t provide a wealth of run support for Castillo.
Luke Raley thought he had at least a run-scoring double in the first inning when he lashed at a 1-1 fastball from Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman. Off the bat, it looked like a ball off the wall for at least a double, but Blue Jays left fielder Daulton Varsho turned it into the third out of the inning with a brilliant catch as he crashed into the wall at full speed.
“I didn’t think there was a chance it wouldn’t get out,” Raley said. “Knowing when I square a ball up and the flight of the ball, typically that’s getting out of here.”
Raley actually thought Varsho had dropped the ball when the Blue Jays fans in the crowd erupted in celebration reacting to the play. He thought it was Mariners fans reacting to Varsho dropping it.
“I didn’t see the ball fall, but he crashed into the wall and there was cheering,” Raley said. “I was confused and kept running between second and third until I saw the ump make an out call.”
Raley got another opportunity with two outs and runners on first and second in the third inning. Thanks to the quick determination from assistant coach Andy Bissell, who handles the Mariners’ replay challenges, Servais challenged an out call at first base.
Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement made a terrific diving stop on Julio Rodriguez’s hard ground ball down the line. He scrambled to his feet and fired a one-hopper to first that was gloved by Spencer Horwitz. And while the throw did barely beat Rodriguez, Bissell noticed that Horwitz’s foot had come off the bag to make the catch.
“He nailed it,” Servais said of Bissell. “There was 35,000 people in the stands who watched the replay and said: ‘Why are we challenging this? He’s clearly out.’ That’s why they have like 16 different camera angles, and he saw the fact that the first baseman’s foot was just barely off the off the base. Hats off to Andy Bissell. That is a tough job, and it happens super fast.”
The call was overturned, and Rodriguez was safe at first, bringing Raley to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs.
When Gausman left another fastball out and over the plate, Raley put it in a place where Varsho couldn’t rob him. The line drive sailed into the gap in left-center, scoring both runners easily. It snapped a run of 14 plate appearances without a hit for Raley.
Raley spent his Fourth of July making sure his dog wasn’t being overwhelmed by fireworks and reflecting on his recent plate appearances.
“I feel like the last week or so I’ve been going outside of the zone and swinging at some pitches that I shouldn’t be,” he said. “It was nice having a day game yesterday and being able to go home and kind of reflect a little bit with a little bit of a slower turnaround. I just kind of realized I needed to get back in the zone. That was my whole approach to it, just make sure I was getting better pitches to hit and swinging at the right ones.”
But the Mariners wouldn’t muster any more runs off Gausman and he still managed to give the Blue Jays a quality start despite throwing 78 pitches over the first four innings.
His final line: six innings pitched, two runs allowed on six hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.
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