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Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson speaks to the media following a 2-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. | Teren Kowatsch/Roundtable Sports
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners had no answers for Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease in a game played Friday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
The Blue Jays ace struck out nine batters, walked one and allowed three hits in seven innings pitched en route to a 2-0 shutout against the Mariners, in a rematch from the 2025 American League Championship Series.
Seattle fell to 45-44 with the loss and dropped to a half-game behind the Texas Rangers for first place in the American League West.
"I thought Cease, he really pitched well tonight against us," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview. "I thought for a guy who sometimes struggles in the zone, I thought he got ahead of our guys pretty well tonight and made some good pitches when he had to and really kept us off stride all night long."
Seattle starting pitcher had a solid day as well and posted third quality start of the season and second in a row, but he wasn't able to keep Toronto's offense completely off the board.
In the top of the third inning, the Blue Jays had seven hitters make plate appearances. Four of those PAs resulted in base hits. The second knock off the inning was an RBI double hit by Toronto shortstop Andres Gimenez.
First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit an RBI single two batters after Gimenez, resulting in Toronto taking its 2-0 lead which was eventually the final score.
Castillo had another rough inning in the fourth, which resulted in him throwing 28 pitches and fighting through two respective eight-pitch at-bats. However, the three-time All-Star limited the damage to just the third. He finished his day with four strikeouts, one walk and two earned runs allowed on five hits in six innings pitched.
"I think for me is, when you get some of those innings, not to lose focus," Castillo said via interpreter Freddy Llanos after the game. "Try to continue battling, be on the same page as your catcher and just go out there and battle. For me, it doesn't matter how many pitches I'm going to throw as long as I'm going out there, competing and battling with these guys and just trying to get out and do my job."
Castillo's solid outing was able to keep the Mariners within striking distance, but the team couldn't find a way to fight through the Blue Jays' pitching staff.
Seattle's best scoring opportunity in the game was in the bottom of the third.
Mariners second baseman Cole Young and center fielder Victor Robles (the latter of whom is filling in for the injured Julio Rodriguez) kicked off the frame with back-to-back singles.
One of those potential runs was erased after shortstop Colt Emerson grounded into a 6u-3 double play. However, the play moved Young to third base and third baseman J.P. Crawford drew a walk to set Seattle up with runners on the corners and two outs.
Left fielder Randy Arozarena grounded out to leave the two infielders stranded. The Mariners went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base.
Seattle's self-committed mistakes didn't help find an opening against the Cease, either.
In the bottom of the first inning, Arozarena used both the team's automated ball-strike (ABS) challenges unsuccessfully, leaving the team unable to challenge ball and strike calls the rest of the game. Arozarena used the second on a called strike three.
In the bottom of the ninth, with a runner at first and one out, catcher Cal Raleigh was visibly frustrated at a called strike that appeared below the zone on the MLB GameDay feed.
Raleigh ended up striking out and first baseman Josh Naylor grounded into a fielder's choice in which designated hitter Dominic Canzone was tagged out at second to end the game.
"I know that the challenge thing is difficult," Wilson said. "That's kind of really the first time that (that situation has) happened. Obviously you want to hold on to those as long as you can. Especially when you're going to have a guy like Cease. But that wasn't the case tonight.
" ... We've talked about it and we know that we want to use those in higher-leverage situations when we can. You use them early, you're not able to do that and that's what happened to us tonight."
The Mariners will have a chance to self-correct and get back in the win column in the second of the three-game series against Toronto at 1:10 p.m. PT on Saturday at T-Mobile Park.
The M's will have Logan Gilbert start and Emerson Hancock come in the game later in a piggyback role and Shane Bieber will start for the third time this season.
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
Continue reading...
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners had no answers for Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease in a game played Friday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
The Blue Jays ace struck out nine batters, walked one and allowed three hits in seven innings pitched en route to a 2-0 shutout against the Mariners, in a rematch from the 2025 American League Championship Series.
Seattle fell to 45-44 with the loss and dropped to a half-game behind the Texas Rangers for first place in the American League West.
"I thought Cease, he really pitched well tonight against us," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview. "I thought for a guy who sometimes struggles in the zone, I thought he got ahead of our guys pretty well tonight and made some good pitches when he had to and really kept us off stride all night long."
Seattle starting pitcher had a solid day as well and posted third quality start of the season and second in a row, but he wasn't able to keep Toronto's offense completely off the board.
In the top of the third inning, the Blue Jays had seven hitters make plate appearances. Four of those PAs resulted in base hits. The second knock off the inning was an RBI double hit by Toronto shortstop Andres Gimenez.
First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit an RBI single two batters after Gimenez, resulting in Toronto taking its 2-0 lead which was eventually the final score.
Castillo had another rough inning in the fourth, which resulted in him throwing 28 pitches and fighting through two respective eight-pitch at-bats. However, the three-time All-Star limited the damage to just the third. He finished his day with four strikeouts, one walk and two earned runs allowed on five hits in six innings pitched.
"I think for me is, when you get some of those innings, not to lose focus," Castillo said via interpreter Freddy Llanos after the game. "Try to continue battling, be on the same page as your catcher and just go out there and battle. For me, it doesn't matter how many pitches I'm going to throw as long as I'm going out there, competing and battling with these guys and just trying to get out and do my job."
Castillo's solid outing was able to keep the Mariners within striking distance, but the team couldn't find a way to fight through the Blue Jays' pitching staff.
Seattle's best scoring opportunity in the game was in the bottom of the third.
Mariners second baseman Cole Young and center fielder Victor Robles (the latter of whom is filling in for the injured Julio Rodriguez) kicked off the frame with back-to-back singles.
One of those potential runs was erased after shortstop Colt Emerson grounded into a 6u-3 double play. However, the play moved Young to third base and third baseman J.P. Crawford drew a walk to set Seattle up with runners on the corners and two outs.
Left fielder Randy Arozarena grounded out to leave the two infielders stranded. The Mariners went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base.
Seattle's self-committed mistakes didn't help find an opening against the Cease, either.
In the bottom of the first inning, Arozarena used both the team's automated ball-strike (ABS) challenges unsuccessfully, leaving the team unable to challenge ball and strike calls the rest of the game. Arozarena used the second on a called strike three.
In the bottom of the ninth, with a runner at first and one out, catcher Cal Raleigh was visibly frustrated at a called strike that appeared below the zone on the MLB GameDay feed.
Raleigh ended up striking out and first baseman Josh Naylor grounded into a fielder's choice in which designated hitter Dominic Canzone was tagged out at second to end the game.
"I know that the challenge thing is difficult," Wilson said. "That's kind of really the first time that (that situation has) happened. Obviously you want to hold on to those as long as you can. Especially when you're going to have a guy like Cease. But that wasn't the case tonight.
" ... We've talked about it and we know that we want to use those in higher-leverage situations when we can. You use them early, you're not able to do that and that's what happened to us tonight."
The Mariners will have a chance to self-correct and get back in the win column in the second of the three-game series against Toronto at 1:10 p.m. PT on Saturday at T-Mobile Park.
The M's will have Logan Gilbert start and Emerson Hancock come in the game later in a piggyback role and Shane Bieber will start for the third time this season.
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Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
Continue reading...
