Mariners notes: Castillo’s gem, Kelenic’s magical week push Seattle back to .500

When the opportunity to sweep a team for the first time all season fell directly into Luis Castillo’s lap, ‘La Piedra’ did not disappoint.

Seattle’s ace pitcher was inevitable: his devastating, near-comical sinker paired alongside a fastball that rises above the letters. All the while, after each of Sunday’s nine strikeouts and seven scoreless frames, Castillo would circle the mound and flash a fist pump before shoving past the next opponent. And the next.

Perfect through six innings, Castillo finally allowed a base runner Sunday – a leadoff single by Rockies left fielder Jurickson Profar in the seventh erased what could have been baseball’s first perfect game since Felix Hernandez blanked Tampa Bay at then-Safeco Field in August 2012.

Still, Castillo completed two-thirds of the perfecto and earned the ovation of the thousands in attendance. He was offered little run support, though it never mattered.

Mark down career win number 50 for ‘La Piedra’ and a clean sweep of the Rockies in a 1-0 win for the Mariners on Sunday.

“I think this is the best you’ve seen (of me) this season,” Castillo told reporters through a translator. “But it is also very early. There’s still a lot of starts (left). Hopefully, God will let me go out there and perform similar to this, if not better.”

Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, Seattle’s breakthrough performer so far in 2023, gave Seattle the winning run with a two-out single in the sixth. The bullet split Colorado’s right infielders and plated Ty France from second base, ending a scoreless tie.

Both the Mariners and Rockies struggled with runners in scoring position – but it was Kelenic’s hit and Castillo’s gem that propelled Seattle to a sweep, their first of the young season.

Second baseman Kolten Wong, batting eighth for Seattle, was the game’s first baserunner. He and shortstop J.P Crawford smacked singles up the middle and put runners on the corners in the third.

But Colorado’s Davis averted damage, inducing an inning-ending double play by Julio Rodriguez. Wong and Crawford were left stranded.

Castillo, meanwhile, mowed through Rockies, sitting them down as fast as they got up. He struck out the side in the second inning on three different pitches and flashed increased velocity from previous starts on all four offerings.

“I’m not really shocked by that,” outfielder Jarred Kelenic said. “When he goes out there, you expect something special’s going to happen, because that’s who he is. He’s a true competitor, and he’s just absolutely disgusting.”

Before ‘La Piedra’ exited his seventh scoreless frame, Castillo had generated 19 whiffs to pair with nine strikeouts. He allowed two hits in the seventh and walked nobody. Castillo has allowed two earned runs in four starts this season – both in a no-decision in Chicago on April 10.

“The movement in his pitches, the deception in his delivery, his competitiveness… it doesn’t surprise me he’s off to the start he is,” manager Scott Servais said. “He’s not afraid of anybody. He’ll challenge you. But we’ve got him, and I’m glad we’ve got him for quite a few more years.”

Seattle righties Justin Topa and Paul Sewald worked scoreless eighth and ninth innings of relief, respectively, and pushed Seattle to 8-8, now at .500 for the first time since March 31.

“We’re playing clean,” Servais said. “We’re doing a lot of good things.”

“HAPPY JARED”

Center fielders positioned inside Wrigley Field rarely, if ever, turn to watch baseballs soar to the upper bleachers well overhead. Some of baseball’s most revered sluggers never reached the second deck draped above the outfield ivy.

Jarred Kelenic, on Wednesday, provided such circumstances. Cubs reliever Julian Merryweather located a 2-0 fastball in the lower zone, but Seattle’s budding outfielder flushed the 98-mph offering a whopping 482 feet – well beyond the 400-foot marker in center.

The blast was the second-longest homer in Chicago’s ‘friendly confines’ since Statcast began tracking in 2015. It provided a fourth run of insurance late in Seattle’s road series with the Cubs and would later help avoid a sweep in a 5-2 victory.

Kelenic had homered in three straight games. A “crew” of friends and family members drove five hours from Waukesha, Wisconsin, to watch the 23-year-old play at Wrigley Field for the first time, unaware of the spectacle they would soon see.

It was, surely, a reward for their travels.

Kelenic’s homer also stunned both television broadcasts and Servais, who played and caught for the Cubs from 1995-98.

“That was the series of Jarred Kelenic,” Seattle’s manager said in his opening postgame remarks. “Wow. Fun to watch. He’s from this part of the country. All of his family and friends were here, and he (went) five-for-nine with three homers.

“I played with Mr. [Sammy] Sosa for a few years. I never saw him go up to that level in center field. … Good for Jarred.”

In an attempt to “simplify things” and remain punctual for fastballs, Kelenic has silenced naysayers and restored the hype carried when the Mariners first acquired him. Famously Seattle’s prized return in the late-2018 deal that sent infielder Robinson Cano and star closer Edwin Diaz to the Mets, the former first-round pick struggled to find consistent offensive production after a May 2021 debut and underwent a series of options to Triple-A Tacoma.

Kelenic appeared in just 54 major league games in 2022 and slashed .141/.221/.313 across 181 plate appearances. But advanced metrics show his recent surge could be here to stay; Kelenic’s barrel rate is up nearly two-fold in 2023 (24.1% to 13.6% in 2022) and his strikeout rate is down seven percent.

He ranks in the top five percent of baseball’s hitters in average exit velocity, hard hit percentage, and expected batting average, per Baseball Savant. The 482-foot rocket Wednesday proved why.

“I’m feeling comfortable right now,” Kelenic said Monday, unaware three more games with home runs were ahead. “My biggest thing… is staying on-time for the fastball, staying in the middle part of the field, and letting the rest take care of itself.”

Friday brought a new test, not yet asked of Kelenic since spring training- a spot in the lineup with an opposing lefty, Colorado’s Austin Gomber, on the mound. How would he deal with the southpaw, a previous weakness, amid a scalding stretch?

It took just three pitches before everyone knew the answer. Kelenic cemented his gargantuan run with another homer, a two-run blast to center that pushed Seattle to a series-opening, 5-3 victory over the Rockies.

But this was the first blast in Seattle in front of home fans this season at T-Mobile Park. The outfielder took notice.

“To know they’ve got my back is super rewarding,” Kelenic said. “I’ll never be able to tell each and every one of them how much I appreciate it, but that’s the stuff you’ll never forget. I’ll never forget that.”

Kelenic went 1-for-4 with a single Saturday, extending a career-high hitting streak to nine games. Throughout the stretch, he’s 14-for-32 (.438) with four doubles, four homers, and seven RBI.

The swings are effortless, and the results are punishing.

Kelenic became the first Mariner aged 23 or younger to record an RBI in five straight games since Alex Rodriguez (1999), and an offseason dedicated toward swing decisions and a consistent approach continues to pay dividends. His resurgence adds a third All-Star candidate to Seattle’s outfield and plants a dangerous hitter underneath staples like Julio Rodriguez and Teoscar Hernandez.

Kelenic was again the hero Sunday: his two-out single in the sixth plated the game’s only run, and a diving catch in the eighth preserved Seattle’s shutout. It saved the game and marked his first-ever hit streak in double-digits.

Spreading throughout the clubhouse is a new slogan for the team’s budding star: ‘Happy Jarred.’

“When Jarred’s happy, we’re all happy,” Servais said. “And right now, we’re all happy because he is playing great.

“It’s hard when you’re a young player and expectations are there, and you don’t meet them, and everybody wants to write you off,” Servais said. “I think somebody in this town said he didn’t write back. I think that’s what Geno [Smith] said? Well, maybe Jarred didn’t write back either.”

SHORT HOPS

– Colorado snapped Ty France’s 11-game hit streak Saturday night, but Seattle’s first baseman still reached twice via walk and hit by pitch. He’s in an All-Star-caliber groove, now 17-for-51 (.333) with 12 runs, six doubles, and eight RBI in France’s last dozen games.

– France’s 53 career hit-by-pitches in a Mariners uniform ties Jay Buhner for fourth-most in club history.

– Shortstop J.P. Crawford reached base four times in Saturday’s win and logged the 14th multi-hit, multi-walk performance out of the 9-spot in team history.

ON DECK

The Mariners continue a nine-game, all-interleague homestand with three-game sets versus Milwaukee (Monday-Wednesday) and St. Louis (Friday-Sunday). Chris Flexen takes the mound for Monday’s series opener with the Brewers, the latter’s first trip to Seattle since 2019.

Seattle and Milwaukee have met for only 12 regular-season games since 2005. Seattle, meanwhile, is amid a 15-game stretch against National League opponents (April 10-27), the longest such streak of interleague play in club history.

“Milwaukee’s playing very well,” Servais said of the Brewers, leaders of the NL Central by two games. “They can pitch, they can hit, they can do a lot. We’ll enjoy the sweep, back at .500, and build from there.”