Castillo, Mariners roll past Jays

TORONTO – The Seattle Mariners gave Luis Castillo a three-run lead before he threw his first pitch in Friday’s wild card opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was all the support he would need, and more.

Castillo and Andrés Muñoz combined on a shutout, Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer and the Mariners won in their first postseason game since 2001, beating the Blue Jays 4-0.

Eugenio Suárez had two hits and two RBIs and rookie Julio Rodríguez reached base three times and scored twice for the Mariners, who can wrap up the series with a win in Game 2 Saturday.

The series winner plays AL West champion Houston in the Division Series starting Tuesday in Texas.

Suárez hit an RBI double off Blue Jays All-Star righthander Alek Manoah in the first inning and Raleigh followed with a drive to right.

“It was very good going out there and having that lead,” Castillo said through a translator. “That gives me that little extra energy when I go on the mound.”

Throwing two different kinds of fastballs at 100 mph and his changeup at 92 mph, Castillo scattered six singles in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked none, facing the second-highest scoring team in the AL.

“When you’ve got two pitches over 99 that are doing two different things, that makes it tough,” Blue Jays infielder Whit Merrifield said.

Castillo, acquired in a midseason trade from Cincinnati, became the first pitcher in Mariners history to throw more than seven scoreless innings in a postseason start.

Raleigh said Castillo was “awesome.” Suárez called him “unbelievable.”

“Credit to Luis, he was in total command today,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

The right-hander turned away from home plate and pumped his fist after fanning designated hitter Danny Jansen to end the seventh, Castillo’s third straight strikeout.

“Wow,” Servais said. “Some kind of performance by him.”

Castillo’s only other postseason start came with Cincinnati in 2020, when he lost to Atlanta in the wild-card round. Castillo allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings in that one but the Reds were eliminated with a 5-0 defeat.

GUARDIANS 2, RAYS 1: The Guardians were certain of two things: José Ramírez would deliver, and Amed Rosario touched second base.

Cleveland’s kids were right.

Ramírez connected for a two-run homer, Shane Bieber dominated Tampa Bay for 7 2/3 innings and the young Guardians played with poise in their postseason debut, beating the visiting Rays.

Ramírez’s shot off Tampa’s Shane McClanahan in the sixth inning — the Rays initially appealed whether Rosario stepped on second — helped Cleveland end an eight-game postseason losing streak and left baseball’s youngest team one win from advancing in its first season as the Guardians.

Though short on experience, the Guardians seem to have everything else.

“At this point we’re dealing with what we got in that clubhouse,” Bieber said, brushing off the team’s youth. “And that’s a winning ballclub.”

Bieber, rocked in his only other playoff appearance two years ago by the Yankees, was spectacular, allowing just three hits and striking out eight before being lifted the eighth to a thunderous ovation.

Emmanuel Clase took it from there, getting four outs for his first postseason save and finishing a game that took just 2 hours, 17 minutes — the fastest in the postseason since 1999 and Cleveland’s quickest since its World Series-clinching win in 1948.

Jose Siri homered for the Rays, who dropped their sixth straight game overall and turn to starter Tyler Glasnow in Game 2 on Saturday to keep their season alive. The series winner plays the AL East champion New York in the Division Series starting Tuesday.