SEATTLE– Luis Castillo dominated after a bumpy first inning, Julio Rodríguez teed up an infield grounder in the third, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Texas Rangers 3-2 on Friday night.
Castillo (6-7) gave up two first-inning runs on an RBI double by Nathaniel Lowe and a run-scoring single by Wyatt Langford, but settled in well and retired 14 of the next 15 Rangers who reached base.
Castillo did not allow another hit after Langford until Adolis García doubled with one out in the sixth.
“I think it’s me,” Castillo said. “That’s who I am. When I can locate proposals, I think those are the results you’ll get from me.”
The veteran right-hander, whose nickname is “The Rock,” allowed four hits and two earned runs in six innings with seven strikeouts.
“I’m really proud of the Rock tonight,” Mariners coach Scott Servais said. “That first inning was not good. He was really missing the location and just said, ‘that’s it.’ He let it go and got locked in, and that’s exactly what we needed.”
After the Rangers took the lead, Mitch Garver tied it with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first.
Garver also had two walks in the game and began to turn the corner at the plate after a slow start to the season.
“I’m seeing the ball better, working on walks, just throwing my swing at pitches that I can hit and pitches that I can’t hit. If I can get my swing on those pitches too, that’s great,” Garver said. “Whenever I try to aim the ball or shoot the other way or do anything, (I) just try to be athletic and let it happen. ”
Seattle took the lead when JP Crawford scored on a fielder’s choice in the third inning. Rodríguez hit a ground ball to third with runners on first and third, and Crawford trotted home as the Rangers gained momentum at second base.
Texas starter Andrew Heaney (2-8) went 4 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and three walks, with four strikeouts. He was replaced by José Ureña, who pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was ejected in the bottom of the fourth inning. Mariners left fielder Victor Robles was ruled safe early on a bunt and Bochy argued that he ran inside the baseline, before umpire Victor Carapazza threw him.
Ryne Stanek pitched the ninth for his sixth save.
“No one is surprised that it was a close, low-scoring game,” Bochy said. “There are still a lot of eliminations tonight. We went out and got two straight away, but after that we didn’t accomplish much.”
The first-place Mariners have extended their division lead to 6 1/2 games and are now 15-5 against AL West opponents.
With his walk in the eighth inning, Corey Seager extended his streak at the plate to 30 games.
ROSTER MOVEMENT
Mariners: RHP Cody Bolton was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma, while RHP Emerson Hancock was sent… RHP Matt Bowman cleared waivers and elected free agency.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Seager (hamstring) returned to the DH lineup after missing Thursday’s game. … SS Josh Smith was out of the lineup Friday with what Bochy called a “general tightness.”
NEXT
Rangers: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (3-2, 2.68 ERA) will pitch Saturday for the Rangers against Mariners RHP George Kirby (5-5, 3.81 ERA).
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