Luis Castillo has to be the most curious pitcher I have ever watched. Never have I seen someone dominate so much, and then as quickly as the next start fall apart. Last time out, Castillo went 7 innings and only gave up two runs; today, he goes four innings and gives up six. The stranger part is that even in games like this, Castillo can look unhittable. Although he started this game a little rough, he quickly recovered and had quite a strong third inning, and even started the fourth striking out the first two batters before it all got away from him.

The Mariners got off to a solid start with a leadoff knock from Randy Arozarena. A flyout from Cal would be followed by a double from Julio Rodríguez to score Randy and put the Mariners ahead one-nothing early. Doubles would continue to be a theme of the Mariners’ scoring in this game, as you will find out below.

On the flip side of the inning, Castillo got off to an inauspicious start when he gave up an oppo taco to Francisco Lindor to start the bottom of the first.

The Mariners took the lead again in the second with Mitch Garver’s seventh home run of the year.

But it wasn’t long before Castillo gave that run back as well. Jeff McNeil got the action started for the Mets with a double to start off the inning, and a single from Francisco Alvarez put the Mets on first and third. Lindor followed them up with a single, scoring McNeil and moving Alvarez to second.

That brought up the always dangerous Juan Soto, the multi-million-dollar man, who took a stone-cold walk from Castillo to load the bases. Unfazed, however, Castillo was able to get out of the inning thanks to a groundout from Brandon Nimmo. Still not a stellar start from Castillo, but with Manaea on the mound for the Mets, the Mariners would have the opportunities to pull this one back; this team has certainly had some moments this year where it’s had to show some tenacity. Randy singled to start the third and was promptly rewarded by Cal Raleigh, who hit his MLB-leading 46th home run of the season.

With that bomb, Cal also passed Johnny Bench for second all-time home runs by a catcher in a single season, still just two behind Salvador Perez, who broke the record in 2021. Cal also becomes the first AL catcher to have consecutive 100 RBI seasons since Thurman Munson had three in a row from 1975-77.

Castillo struck out the first two hitters of the 4th, seemingly cruising to a quiet inning. The Mets, though, are never ones to go down quietly. A Ronny Mauricio single got them started, and it only got worse from there. Lindor struck again with a home run, his second of the day:

Not to be outdone, Juan Soto followed Lindor with a homer of his own:

Castillio would escape the inning, but that would be the end of the day for him. Now, some teams would be deflated by an inning like that, pack it up, go home, we will get them back tomorrow. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but not the 2025 Seattle Mariners. Eduard Bazardo got the good vibes going again with a strong 5th inning, tacking up one strikeout to keep the score frozen for the 6th. Though the Mariners went down in order in the 5th, much like an arrow, sometimes you have to draw back before shooting forward. Donovan “Josh Naylor” Solano would not be denied in the 6th; he singled to keep the inning alive after a quick first out. JP moved him to second on a groundout, and Cole Young followed him with a well-struck single to center to score Solano and keep the Mariners in the game.

Tragically, Randy could not capitalize and grounded out to end the inning. But the mood had shifted, the vibes had changed, and the top of the order was primed for the seventh.

A quiet bottom 6 for the Mets brought a warm Mariners top of the order up for the 7th. Cal Raleigh got the party started with a double to left – his first since June 27th, because he usually puts those over the fence when he gets a hold of them. Feeling left out, Eugenio Suárez got involved with a double of his own to score Cal and tie the game at six apiece.

Canzone followed with some action of his own with a single to give the Mariners the lead:

Mitch Garver walked to put two men on for Donovan “Hack Wilson” Solano. Solano got involved again with a double of his own to keep the fireworks going:

The Mariners now led 8-6 with one out and men on second and third. Solano’s day would end there as Dylan Moore came out to run for him. JP Crawford went down swinging, but the Mariners remained hot with two outs and men on base. Shocking, I know. Cole Young kept the fun going with a double down the line to score Moore and Solano. You get a double, and Young gets a double, everybody gets a double!

The inning came to an end, but not before the damage had been done. The Mariners hung a crooked number and took a 10-6 lead over the Mets in the top of the 7th.

Now I would love to say that the rest of the game was uneventful, but as previously mentioned, the Mets are not a team that goes away easily, even when you have a lead such as the one the Mariners did. Gabe Speier came in and shut the door in the bottom of the 7th with two strikeouts, but the game was faaar from over in the 7th.

As if they know they can’t let up, the Mariners kept the pressure up in the top of the 8th. Cal Raleigh got the action started with another double (!) to start the inning, and Julio again got in on the action with a double of his own – his second of the night – to score Cal and put the Mariners up 11-6. In the same vein as Cal, Julio made a little history of his own, tallying the 100th double of his career at just 24.

The Mariners went down in order to end the inning, but another precious run had been added, and as we’d seen already, it may very well be needed.

The Mariners brought in Jackson Kowar to handle the bottom of the Mets order. Kowar has shown flashes of potential in a handful of games for the Mariners, but the Mets got to the 28-year-old righty right away. First, a single to Jeff McNeil, not a big deal, especially after a strikeout of Mark Vientos for the first out. Recent trade deadline acquisition Cedric Mullins brought danger when he lined a double to put runners on 2nd and third. Francisco Alvarez added the final nail to Kowar’s night with a three-run bomb to bring the Mets within two.

That would be all she wrote for Kowar as Matt Brash came in to stop the bleeding with a strikeout of Ronny Mauricio and popout from Lindor to end the inning.

Dylan Moore started the top of the 9th with a double – his first hit since July 4th – to set the all-time Mariners team record for doubles in a game at nine. But outside of that, the Mariners got the bases loaded but failed to score further.

Andrés Muñoz came in for the bottom of the 9th, striking out the tough-to-strike-out Juan Soto for the second out of the inning, and slammed the door, tallying his 29th save of the season. Volume up on this call from the SNY announcers on the Soto strikeout. They sound so disappointed!

With the Astros’ loss tonight, the Mariners moved within half a game of the division lead. With just about a month and a half left in the season, the Mariners have the chance over the next few days to pass the Astros and pressure them to make it out of the West via the Wild Card. This team has shown time and again it is more than capable of grinding out a win 1-0 or blowing teams out 10-0. If they can remain this hot and consistent, there shouldn’t be any problems. That being said, though it is getting to the end of the season, this is about the time of year that the wheels start to fall off for some pitchers. Careful management of the bullpen and pitching rotation will be crucial to the Mariners’ success down the stretch. Nights like tonight, where the starter doesn’t have it and the lineup picks him up, will likely come up more as the season comes to a close, but if those nights are anything like tonight, I think the boys in Northwest Green will have games in October in their future.