The Seattle Mariners show no signs of an offensive slowdown and can clinch their eighth consecutive series with a victory over the slumping Texas Rangers on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
The Mariners will send right hander Luis Castillo (3-2, 3.62 ERA) to the hill to start the middle contest of a three-game American League West series while Texas will counter with lefty Patrick Corbin (2-1, 3.79).
Seattle dominated the first game of the series, winning 13-1 behind a home run and a grand slam by Cal Raleigh, a two-run round-tripper from Julio Rodriguez and three-hit pitching from starter Bryan Woo and two relievers. Texas didn’t score until Josh Smith’s solo home run with two outs in the ninth, a shot that ended the Rangers’ 23-inning scoreless streak.
In a tale of teams heading in opposite directions, the Mariners’ win was their fifth in a row and seventh in their past eight games while Texas dropped its third consecutive outing and sixth in its past seven.
In that five-game winning streak, the Mariners are averaging 9.6 runs per game. In those six losses, the Rangers scored seven total runs.
Castillo has won his past two starts, most recently throwing six shutout innings in a home 14-0 win against the Miami Marlins. He allowed just one hit, struck out five and walked two on 90 pitches — 60 of them strikes.
“For me, things are going in the right direction,” Castillo said via a translator. “We’re getting there, we’re going slowly. We had a great start and obviously the one hit (allowed) is a good sign, hopefully, (for) more big games like this for me.”
He has faced the Rangers five times in his career, amassing a 2-3 record with a 4.20 ERA over 26 2/3 innings. Castillo has allowed 12 runs and 26 hits over those games, while striking out 32 and walking nine.
On Friday, Major League Baseball named Seattle closer Andres Munoz the AL Reliever of the Month for March/April. Munoz went 1-0 with 11 saves and a 0.00 ERA in 15.0 innings pitched while striking out 19 and walking just six. He held opponents to a .106 (5-of-47) average while the Mariners won 13 of the 15 games in which he pitched.
The Rangers still are trying to find answers to a season-long scoring slump that seen them push across just two runs in their past three games. Texas has scored only 104 runs this year, second fewest in the major leagues to Colorado’s 100.
“We’ve mixed this lineup up, we’ve tried things, moved guys around a little bit trying to get this going,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “I think we’ve done enough of that. It’s really up to them to get up there and get quality at bats right now.”
Into this breach steps Corbin, who was a hard-luck loser in his last outing when he allowed two runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings in a game the Rangers dropped 2-1 at home to the Athletics. He struck out five and walked one and had his personal two-game winning streak snapped.
Corbin has never lost to the Mariners, winning two of his three career starts while compiling a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings of work. He has given up five runs (four earned) on 12 hits while striking out 19 and walking four in those games.
–Field Level Media
