Finally, Mariners bats find some traction as they beat Angels in 11-2 rout
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – To the relief of themselves and their fans, the Seattle Mariners were finally able to punch their way through the brick wall and find some offensive consistency, blasting four homers and scoring eleven runs in a blowout victory over the Angels. Mariners ace Luis Castillo delivered another standout performance for Seattle, pitching five and a third innings of shutout baseball to earn a standing ovation from the crowd at T-Mobile Park. It’s the second win of the season for the Mariners, and they’ll look to make it a streak tomorrow when they finish off the homestand with game three against these Angels.
La Piedra remains rock solid in second start
Mariners starting pitcher and ace Luis Castillo built off his impressive start on Opening Day, by delivering another quality effort against an Angels team that has hit well to begin the 2023 campaign. While his slider is still a pitch in his arsenal that he’s looking to fine tune, Castillo was able to get Los Angeles hitters with a solid mix of his fastball and changeup. Castillo dominated the zone, a Mariners pitching staff staple, and even made a highlight defensive play on the mound. Angels outfielder Hunter Renfroe bounced a comebacker towards Castillo, set to careen just behind Castillo following his delivery. Luis reached back with his glove, snagging the ball perfectly like he just reeled in a big catch, to get a LOUD “ooooo” from the T-Mobile Park crowd.
“You know, I just came in with the same mentality of just going out there and giving everything that my body and arm can give to try to break this negative streak that we’ve had. And luckily today I was able to perform well and give this team a victory.”
“I’ve always said this before. Every batter that steps in home plate here in the major leagues, they’re here for a reason. They’re good. So I go with the same approach with every batter. I go up there and give the best I can and just put up a fight. And I know the kind of batter Trout is and he’s actually a good friend of mine, but I respect him. And I go up there, battle and try to get the strikeout so that I can last longer in the game. If I go up there and he keeps a couple of fouls and stuff, it’s going to prolong the innings and a shorter outing. ”
“I have no idea how I caught that, but I feel like every ball that’s coming my direction, I kind of was a little scared of it. Obviously, what happened on Opening Day, where I already got hit on it, but that one came at me. I don’t know how I caught it, but we were able to make a play.”
Hernandez and Pollock become “bash bros”
Offseason additions Teoscar Hernandez and AJ Pollock had been quiet offensively entering today’s contest with the Angels, generating some loud contacts but not seeing any results for it. Pollock and Hernandez had both slammed balls with high exit velocities that are just dying at the warning track, which should change in the warmer months, but they both finally broke through tonight. Hernandez and Pollock both slammed two homers, tallying their 15th and 10th multi-homer games of their careers, respectively.
“Yeah, when you start the way I start, obviously I wanted to get hits, I want to get on base, I want to do things to help the team and I wasn’t doing that. Things weren’t going the way I wanted to go. I finally get some adjustments, my timing is a little better, it’s getting better. Even when I was missing a lot of at bats, I was getting something positive from it and today I showed it.”
Seattle Mariners outfielders Teoscar Hernandez and AJ Pollock both had multi-homer games in the win (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Use it as a stepping stone
While it’s easy to see the big blasts by Hernandez and Pollock and the score of eleven runs and think hey, let’s do this all the time, it isn’t realistic. There are going to be those highs and lows over the course of the season, so it’s important to take bits and pieces of the lessons that are taught in each of the 162 stops of the regular season. Applying them to the games after you learn those lessons is the critical part, and Seattle must take what they gained from this blowout and apply it going forward. The Mariners had six of their nine batters record multi-hit games in this contest, including young superstar Julio Rodriguez who had two stand-up doubles on the night. Take the positive momentum, don’t get too high on the win, and close out this series tomorrow against a great pitcher.
Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez had two doubles on the night (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Quick notes
The Mariners won 11-2, snapping a 4-game losing streak.
Seattle’s 11 runs and 13 hits were both 2023 season highs.
Tonight’s game was the largest margin of victory for the Mariners since 6/22/22 at OAK (9-0)...the Mariners won by 9+ runs only 3 times during the 2022 season: 6/22/22 at OAK (9-0), 5/31/22 at BAL (10-0) and 4/15/22 vs. HOU (11-1).
Teoscar Hernández and AJ Pollock each homered 2 times in tonight’s game…they are the first Mariners teammates to each hit a pair of home runs in the same game since Mitch Haniger and Jarred Kelenic on 9/29/22 vs. TEX.
With his leadoff double in the 1st inning, Julio Rodríguez has now reached base safely in the 1st inning in the last 5 games (1 single, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 1 walk).
He is now batting .446 (41x92) with 31 runs, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 14 RBI, 6 stolen bases and 10 walks in the 1st inning during his career.
With 2 doubles tonight, he is the 7th player in club history with 2 multi-extra-base hit games in the first 6 games of the season (last: Mitch Haniger, 2021).
Luis Castillo has 11.2 consecutive scoreless innings combined between his first 2 starts of the season…he did not allow a walk over his first 8.0 innings pitched.
He is the third starter in Mariners history to pitch at least 11.0 scoreless innings over their first 2 starts (also: James Paxton, 2017, 13.0 IP and Félix Hernández, 2007, 17.0 IP).
Overall, through his first 2 starts, Castillo is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER, 11.2 IP), allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks with 12 strikeouts.
Teoscar Hernández recorded his 15th career multi-home run game (last: 10/2/22 vs. BOS w/ TOR).
He hit his first home run of the 2023 season in the bottom of the 1st inning.
Both home runs were hit 109+ mph with a combined distance of 845 ft.
AJ Pollock recorded his 10th career multi-home run game (last: 9/29/21 vs. SD w/ LAD).
His first hit with the Mariners was a home run to left field in the bottom of the 5th inning.
Cal Raleigh has hit safely in each of his 4 starts this year, including 3 games with 1 double.
His double in the 4th was the hardest hit ball of the game at 110.7 MPH.
Overall this season, he is batting .333 (6x18) with 1 run, 3 doubles and 5 RBI on the season.
Eugenio Suárez went 2-for-4 in tonight’s game to record his 3rd consecutive multi-hit game.
It is his 9th career stretch of at least 3 consecutive multi-hit games (last: 8/30/22 – 9/1/22).
Overall, he has hit safely in 5 of 6 games to begin the season.
Sam Haggerty recorded his first hit of the 2023 season on a single in the bottom of the 5th.
What’s next?
The rubber match of this game will be played tomorrow on Wednesday, April 5th with a first pitch time of 1:10PM PST as Chris Flexen (holding Robbie Ray’s spot in the rotation) will duel with megastar Shohei Ohtani on the mound. It’ll be no easy task for the Mariners, as Ohtani’s success on the mound is well documented. It’s sure to be an interesting close to the series and homestand, as Seattle looks to start a winning streak following the end of their four-game losing skid.