By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The August ninth contest between the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees was rolling along at first. By the time the game had reached the eighth inning, the game had only lasted around two hours. Fast forward to the end of the game, when the Mariners had won in the bottom of the 13th, with a final game time of four hours and seven minutes. Luis Torrens’ pinch hit single would strike midnight on the Yankees, and the teams would even the series at one game each.
Yankees starter Gerrit Cole pitched much better in this start than his last against the Mariners (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
Luis locks em down
Ace pitcher Luis Castillo made his Mariners home debut in this game, and he showed out in perhaps the best performance he could have possibly given the 38,804 fans at T-Mobile Park. Castillo worked an absolute gem of a game, going eight innings (yes, nearly a complete game) while only giving up three hits. Castillo worked those shutout innings while only walking two batters and striking out seven.
The night marked only the fourth time in T-Mobile Park history in where both starters would pick seven or more innings with no runs and seven or more strikeouts. Castillo reminded fans of some of the outstanding performances that Felix Hernandez used to put up, and locking Castillo up long term should be a top priority for Seattle.
Luis Castillo was electric for the Mariners in his home debut (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
Bullpen puts Bronx Bombers in a box
For the past two seasons, the Mariners bullpen has been elite. The entirety of the pitching staff this season has carried Seattle, and that was primarily showcased in this game. After the eight inning masterclass by Luis Castillo, four different relief pitchers would take the mound for Seattle. While this greatly depletes your bullpen for tomorrow, it did help your ballclub win a game that could be the momentum to pick you up and start another winning streak.
Andres Munoz struck out the top three batters in the Yankees lineup (including MVP candidate Aaron Judge), Paul Sewald, Matt Festa, and Matt Brash forced New York into bad base running and got out of several jams. The Mariners bullpen did some incredible work to make sure that the Yankees didn’t even get a hit outside of the three that Castillo gave up. What the pitching staff did today was historic, as they became the second team in all of BASEBALL HISTORY to go 12+ scoreless innings with less than three hits and no extra base hits allowed and 14 or more strikeouts, joining the New York Mets who accomplished the same feat on June 17th of 1976!!
Relief pitcher Matt Brash receives feedback from manager Scott Servais (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
Torrens takes care of business
Backup catcher Luis Torrens has had a rough 2022 campaign, but it seems as though things may be looking up for Torrens as of late. Torrens hit his first homer of the season in game two of the doubleheader against the Angels earlier in the homestand, and was able to give his team the victory in a gigantic moment against the Yankees.
With the bases loaded (Sam Haggerty had been intentionally walked, for the second time in the game, in addition to Eugenio Suarez as a ghost runner and Cal Raleigh singling), Luis Torrens came in to pinch hit in the nine hole. Behind in the count, Torrens stayed calm and was able to turn on a 98 MPH sinker in the strike zone. The ball was lasered into right field, right past second baseman Gleyber Torres. Eugenio Suarez would score, and Luis Torrens became one of the heroes of the night.
Adam Frazier douses Luis Torrens in a celebratory bath (Photo by Birdzeyeviewvisuals)
Quick notes
Tonight's game is the second Mariners win by a score of 1-0 in extra innings in franchise history.
The other occurrence took place on August 12th, 2009 against the Chicago White Sox. Ken Griffey Jr hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 14th
Tonight’s game was the longest contest of the season for the Mariners
The Mariners are expected to get Dylan Moore and Diego Castillo back from injury tomorrow, prompting some big roster moves
Superstar center fielder Julio Rodriguez is not expected to be activated tomorrow, instead it is looking like Julio will be back on Friday.
What’s next?
The rubber match of the series comes tomorrow, Wednesday August 10th with a first pitch time of 1:10PM PST. Seattle starter Robbie Ray will be on the mound, looking to rebound from his poor outings as of late. He will duel against Yankees All-Star Nester Cortes, who is a former Mariner.
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