The chants of “Let’s go, Blue Jays!” echoed throughout Friday night, but they weren’t as enthusiastic as in years past. And the usual crowd of well-served fans who made the trip south from Canada seemed dwarfed by comparison, reflecting the team’s disappointing season.
There was no total takeover of T-Mobile Park, just a sneaky invasion.
But in the ninth inning, Blue Jays fans in the announced crowd of 34,493 began the familiar chant again, albeit a little timidly, trying to help their team pull itself together.
But Andrés Munoz and the Mariners’ contingent of raucous fans, determined to drown out any pro-Toronto support, ensured the chants never rose in decibels or brought hope.
Pitching for the second straight day, the Mariners relief pitcher worked a drama-free 1-2-3 inning to secure a quick, clean 2-1 victory for the true home team.
“We had a really good effort tonight and hopefully we can keep that going,” manager Scott Servais said. “It’s a crazy game and we have to keep fighting every day. Our guys are doing a good job and hopefully we can catch up with them tomorrow.”
Seattle took advantage of a breakout performance from Luis Castillo and a potent offense to win the series opener and maintain a two-game lead over the Houston Astros in the American League West standings.
In his previous five outings, Castillo had gone 1-3 with a 6.49 ERA. He had pitched six complete innings only once.
But using a new grip on his slider that he received from the pitching coaches on Thursday, Castillo went out and implemented it into his repertoire with great success. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on two hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Servais was certainly concerned when Castillo threw a couple of sliders that registered at 82 and 83 mph.
“When he threw the first two pitches, I looked at (pitching coach) Pete Woodworth and said, ‘What do we have here?’ And he said, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it. We’ll see how it goes.’ I think the variation in speed between the slider and the fastball really helped him tonight.”
Castillo had been using the same grip on his slider since his MLB rookie year in 2017. But he struggled to locate the pitch for much of that season. So when pitching coaches made the suggestion, he was willing to try it.
“Yesterday we were working out and the pitching coach came up to me and asked, ‘How do you hold your slider?’” Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “I showed him and he said, ‘Why don’t you try it this way?’ I did it, threw it and threw it tonight and it worked out for us.”
He didn’t have good actions or good results in his warm-up for his start.
“I think the first ball in the bullpen didn’t move, it went straight,” he said with a laugh. “But I kept that positive mentality, threw hard and made that changeup and used it in the game. It’s the same intent, same arm mechanics and same mentality.”
He didn’t realize it until after he finished the sixth inning, but he had held the Blue Jays hitless for 5 1/3 innings. Kevin Kiermaier ended his attempt with a solo home run to right.
“I didn’t know that until Cal (Raleigh) told me he thought we were going to have a no-hitter tonight,” Castillo said.
The Mariners haven’t provided much support for Castillo.
Luke Raley thought he had at least a double that would have scored a run in the first inning when he hit a 1-1 fastball from Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman. It initially looked like the ball had hit 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 great catch as he crashed into the wall at full speed.
“I didn’t think there was a chance it wasn’t going to come out,” Raley said. “Knowing when I put a ball in center and the trajectory of the ball, that’s usually what gets me out of here.”
Raley actually thought Varsho had dropped the ball when the Blue Jays fans in the crowd erupted in cheers in reaction to the play. He thought it was the Mariners fans reacting to Varsho dropping it.
“I didn’t see the ball hit, but it hit the wall and there was cheering,” Raley said. “I was confused and kept running between second and third base until I saw the umpire make a call.”
Raley had another opportunity with two outs and runners on first and second in the third inning. Thanks to the quick determination of assistant coach Andy Bissell, who handles the Mariners’ pickoff challenges, Servais challenged a putout at first base.
Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement made a great dive to stop Julio Rodriguez’s hard ball down the line. He got up and threw a ball that was gloved by Spencer Horwitz. And although the throw barely beat Rodriguez, Bissell noticed that Horwitz’s foot had come off the bag to make the catch.
“He made it,” Servais said of Bissell. “There were 35,000 people in the stands watching the replay and saying, ‘Why are we arguing this? He’s clearly out.’ That’s why they put 16 different camera angles, and he saw the fact that the first baseman’s foot was barely off base. Hats off to Andy Bissell. It’s a tough job, and it happens super fast.”
The call was overturned and Rodriguez was safe at first base, bringing Raley to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs.
When Gausman left another fastball over the plate, Raley placed it in a spot Varsho couldn’t steal from him. The ball flew into the gap in left-center field, easily scoring both runners. That ended a streak of 14 plate appearances without a hit for Raley.
Raley spent his Fourth of July making sure his dog wasn’t overwhelmed by the fireworks and reflecting on his recent appearances on the board.
“I feel like the last week I’ve been getting out of my zone and hitting pitches I shouldn’t have,” he said. “It was good to have a day game yesterday and be able to come home and think a little bit with a little bit of a slower return. I just realized I had to get back in my zone. That was my whole approach, just making sure I had better pitches to hit and hitting the right ones.”
But the Mariners failed to score more runs against Gausman and he still managed to give the Blue Jays a good start despite throwing 78 pitches in the first four innings.
His final line: six innings pitched, two runs allowed on six hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.
THE SCORE OF THE BOX