Luis Castillo made the start for the Mariners on Saturday in their win against the White Sox. The Mariners beat the White Sox 8-2 with help from Dominic Canzone, who continued his hot spring. Canzone went 2 for 3, with a 2 run homerun in the first in a 4 run inning, it was more then enough for Luis Castillo, who went five innings of one run ball.
First Inning:
First batter of the Game was Dominic Fletcher, facing Castillo. Castillo started the game by walking Fletcher after going up 1-2.
Next up Yoan Moncada. Castillo went after him with a Fastball and two Change-Up’s. After trying a Fastball in and Change-up down, Castillo hit Moncado with a slider on the back foot. Two on, no Outs.
Time for Castillo to settling in after a walk and HBP. He faced Andrew Vaugh who helped Castillo grounding into a double play on the first pitch. One on, two Outs.
To get out of the inning, Castillo had to go thru Rafael Ortega. He started Ortega off with a Change-up for a strike. He followed it up with an up and in Fastball at 96mph for a ball. Another Change-up in for a strike to get ahead 1-2. After Ortega fouled off the 1-2 Fastball away, Castillo came back with a Fastball up and in, which Ortega swung on and missed. Three Outs.
Second Inning:
Mark Payton led off the second inning against Castillo and flew out on an 1-1 Fastball. One out.
Zach Remillard got ahead in the count 3-1 before he hit a double off the wall over the head of Dominic Canzone in left. Runner at Second, One Out.
Former Astro Martin Maldonado up, looking for an RBI. It was another at bat, where Castillo wasn’t in full controll. Another at bat Castillo got behind in the count. However, on the 3-2 pitch, Maldonado hit the Change-up on the ground to third. Runner at Third, 2 Outs.
Braden Shewmake up with two outs, looking to take advantage off Castillo inconsistent first two innings. It turned out to be another inconsistent at bat for Castillo, as he continued struggling with his off-speed stuff. Castillo had to come with a Fastball on 3-1, which Shewmake hit thru the hole between first and second for a RBI hit.
Castillo got out of the inning, getting Brett Phillips to fly out to left. 41 pitches over the first two innings for Castillo, still able to limit the damage.
Third Inning:
Needing some quick Outs, Fletcher helped out Castillo popping up an inside Fastball to third on the first pitch. One Out.
Yoan Moncado up next, taking a first pitch Fastball for a strike. After fouling off a Change-up, Moncada went after the up and in Fastball for Castillo second Strikeout, on the same pitch (up and in Fastball). Two Outs.
Andrew Vaugh popped up an 1-2 Breaking Ball, which was miss played by Haniger. The ruling was a hit, but should have been an error. One on, Two Out.
Castillo got Ortega to fly out to center, on two pitches, to make it a moot point. A far better inning from Castillo in the third, making quick work and getting ahead. Off-speed pitches found the zone better.
Fourth Inning:
Mark Payton pops out on the second pitch of the fourth. Another Change-up, a White Sox hitter came under. One Out.
Zach Remillard, popped up the next Change-up, but it went in the stands for a Foul Ball. Castillo came down and in with a Fastball for a Foul Ball, going up 0-2. A nasty Change-up followed which Remillard swung over for his third strikeout of the day. Two Outs.
Change-up, Change-up, Fastball, Fastball to Maldonado to get ahead 1-2, before Castillo, dropped another nasty Change-up down and away for a swing and a miss. Fourth strikeout to end the fourth for Castillo.
Fifth Inning:
Shewmake led off the fifth, after Castillo retired 7 of his last 8 (the one reached was Vaugh on the misplay by Haniger). Shewmake got behind 0-2 after a Fastball/Change-up combo from Castillo. Castillo tried a Fastball in which just missed before a Change-up, down and away, which Shewmake just got a piece off. After a bad miss on the Fastball, he came in again for a Foul Ball off another Fastball, followed by another Fastball, now up and away.
After three Fastball, he tried a Change-up away, but missed. The nice battle between Shewmake and Castillo ended with a fly out to center on a 3-2 Fastball in. One Out.
Brett Phillips hit the ball the other way on the first pitch of the at bat. Took an outside Fastball the other way, past the third baseman. Phillips tried to stretch a Single into a Double, but Dominic Canzone continued to impress with a great throw to Polanco to get Phillips. Two Outs!
Next up, Dominic Fletcher who swung under back to back Fastballs. After a try up and away with the Fastball and away with the Change-up, Castillo got Fletcher with a Fastball Away. It ended Castillo his outing after five strong innings.
Castillo Final Line:
5IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 5K, 2.77 ERA
Castillo got off to an inconsistent start, but got thru that without allowing a lot of damage. After the first two, he was settled in and pitched a great final three innings. His Fastball/Change-up combination was filthy. He was also able to keep his velo up with 76 total pitches.
Castillo will be the opening day starter on March the 28th. Looks like he is close to ready!
