Mariners engage in pitchers’ duel, decide blowouts are more fun, win 12-1 (2024)

Making their return to Sunday Night Baseball for the first time in two decades, the Mariners showed ESPN what they’d been missing by putting on a show that was equal parts tense pitchers’ duel and offensive explosion, happily this time in favor of the home team.

In the battle of Luises, Castillo came out ahead of Severino in the end, but it was tight over the first few innings. After trading scoreless first innings, Castillo weaved out of some trouble in the top of the second, working around a walk that wasn’t his fault (HP umpire Cory Blaser missed a strike two call on a perfectly-placed four-seamer, causing the usually implacable Rock to literally become this meme) and a hit by pitch that was, stranding runners on first and second by handling the bottom of the Mets lineup, including Latin pop superstar Jose Iglesias and old friend Ben Gamel—thanks to a superior play from Jorge Polanco that had a mic’d up Victor Robles losing his mind.

Robles, earning every bit of airtime, was even more excited in the bottom of the second, when the Mariners managed to take a slender lead in the bottom of the second, when Jorge Polanco worked a full count before clobbering a sinker into the ‘pen for a no-doubt home run.

But even with that slender lead, Castillo had to work even harder in the third, this time navigating around a one-out double from Francisco Lindor and then a four-pitch walk to Brandon Nimmo where none of the four pitches were close. However, he came back in the fourth with his most dominant inning of the day, striking out the side, ending by forcing Jose Iglesias to re-enact Twisters (2024), or at least Raygun’s Olympic performance:

In and out of trouble Castillo darted, holding off the Mets and protecting that one-run lead, making pitches when he needed to while getting some help from his defense, like this catch from Randy Arozarena for a key second out with two on, allowing him to then get J.D. Martinez to fly out harmlessly to end the inning. “For me, it was a perfect day,” said Castillo postgame. “The defense was perfect behind me, the catcher and I worked together perfectly between the mound and home plate, and I was able to just enjoy it. Because sometimes there are good days, and sometimes bad days, but today, I could enjoy it to the maximum.”

Castillo had a little something extra on his fastball tonight, up a half-mile on average on the pitch, and said he felt like he could spot it wherever he wanted. He threw it over half the time to the Mets, mixing in his sinker and slider but always able to go back to the four-seamer when he needed it but placing it in such a location, and at such consistent plus velocity, that he was able to coax weak contact outs or whiffs with the pitch. Castillo eclipsed 1300 career strikeouts today, and while he’ll never pitch to chase strikeouts, but he says it is a testament to his career.

The Mariners rewarded Castillo’s Houdini-like escape in the bottom of the fifth, finally giving him more than One Lousy Run of Support. Dominic Canzone led off with his second double, and Leo Rivas sacrificed him over to third. Victor Robles couldn’t come up with any contact, striking out for the second out, and then it looked like Randy Arozarena was going to ground out easily to Francisco Lindor—but Lindor lost the handle on the ball, allowing the run to score. (Don’t worry, Lindor. That mistake would not be the deciding point in this game.)

In something you hate to see as a Mets fan but absolutely love as a Mariners fan, Cal Raleigh then stepped to the plate and demolished a first pitch changeup to double the Mariners lead.

That was Cal’s 25th on the season. Per Mariners PR, Cal is the first catcher with three consecutive 25+ homer seasons since Mike Piazza had eight consecutive from 1995-2002. That...sort of says something about how bad offense has been from the catcher position, but also how good Cal has been out of a position that’s usually a sucking black hole for offense.

Castillo gave up his one run—and broke the Mariners’ streak of 27 scoreless innings—in the sixth, making a mistake with a two-out, first-pitch four-seamer in the middle of the plate to Jeff McNeil, who demolished the pitch over the right-field fence for the Mets’ first run of the series. However, Castillo came back to get Iglesias to fly out to end the inning, completing his day with just the one run allowed. In the pitcher’s duel, Castillo edged out Severino: both threw 90+ pitches (Castillo 96, Severino 92), but Castillo went one inning further, giving up just the one run to Severino’s four (which honestly should be downgraded considering Lindor’s error—ruled a hit). Severino struck out an impressive eight; Castillo, nine. In the battle of the Luises, the one wearing the Seattle City Connect (now a shocking 11-1 on the season) emerges victorious.

The Mets brought in former Mariner Ryne Stanek in the sixth inning and this is where the game got out of hand. Jorge Polanco, having himself a heck of a game, led off with a double. Stanek then walked Luke Raley, not the easiest thing to do, and Josh Rojas to load the bases. He got Canzone swinging, but gave up an RBI single to Leo Rivas, making the most of his opportunity once again. Robles put the ball in play, hitting a ball deep into the hole at second that McNeil made an ill-advised play on, throwing wildly and allowing another two runs to score instead of just one, making it 7-1. Arozarena struck out, but then Cal Raleigh made sure another fanbase would hate him:

Since it’s another Cal Raleigh homer, it’s time for another Cal Raleigh fact, courtesy of Mariners PR: Cal has eight multi-homer games since the start of 2023, which is tied for fourth-most in MLB. Only Judge, Olson, and Soto have more in that span—and Cal is doing it while playing a significantly more taxing defensive role.

The Mariners got another couple of runs off the Mets bullpen to make the score 12-1, apparently a deep enough deficit that Scott Servais felt comfortable tapping 22-year-old Troy Taylor to make his big-league debut. “I thought his heart was going to pop out of his shirt, it was beating that hard,” Servais joked postgame.

Taylor looked as advertised, coming in with a 96 mph sinker that resulted in a weak-contact flyout, a few wild pitches that came close to grazing Mets hitters. He walked Ben Gamel in a 3-2 count, but then registered his first professional strikeout, striking out former Mariner Luis Torrens on a hellacious slider. The last hurdle was the battle of the TTs: Troy Taylor vs. Tyrone Taylor. As Castillo was victorious over Severino, Troy won over Tyrone.

The opportunity to shine on Sunday Night Baseball obviously meant a lot to every member of the organization—from Scott Servais saying he hopes ESPN will come back sooner than in another two decades (maybe deep in the post-season), to Victor Robles delighting everyone while being mic’d up (in English), to Troy Taylor making his debut in memorable fashion, to Cal Raleigh saying postgame that East Coast bias is real and MLB should do more to grow the game. It was maybe most surprising to hear one of the more seasoned Mariners, as well as one of the most even-keeled one, in hearing Luis Castillo talk about his first experience pitching on Sunday Night baseball postgame. Through a translator, Castillo said that between the City Connects, the crowd, the adrenaline, and seeing the energy his teammates brought—especially Victor Robles, who Castillo mentioned specifically as someone who loves the game and excels in these kinds of moments—it was a special experience.

Here’s to more of them this season at T-Mobile Park, a gem that was on display for the greater baseball world to see tonight.