SEATTLE ā Luis Castillo pitched seven shutout innings and the Seattle Mariners grabbed sole possession of first place in the AL West, beating the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
Teoscar HernĆ”ndez and Julio RodrĆguez homered as Seattle won for the 11th time in 12 games. The Mariners also improved to a major league-best 36-14 since July 1 for their best 50-game stretch since they also went 36-14 from April 23-June 18, 2003.
Recommended Videos
Seattle (74-56) and Texas were tied for the AL West lead coming into the day, but the Rangers lost 7-6 to the Twins. Seattle trailed Texas by 7 1/2 games on Aug. 15.
Itās the latest the Mariners have had sole possession of first in a season since Aug. 24, 2003.
āWe have a lot of baseball to go,ā Seattle manager Scott Servais said. āThereās no question about it. But we have played extremely well, really since the first of July. And itās a testament to our players. They just keep their head down and focus on getting better.ā
Castillo (11-7) allowed one hit, struck out six and walked one in his fourth consecutive win. The All-Star right-hander retired his last 13 batters.
āItās been awesome to watch him go out and do it every fifth day,ā Servais said. āAnd today he was as sharp as heās been in quite some time. When your starting pitching is that consistent, youāre gonna be in a lot of games.ā
HernƔndez put Seattle in front with his third homer in the past two games, hitting a 433-foot solo shot to center off rookie Alec Marsh (0-7) in the second inning. It was his 22nd homer of the season.
RodrĆguez also went deep for the second straight day, lining a two-run shot to left-center in the fifth to make it 3-0. It was his 23rd of the season.
Kansas Cityās Nelson VelĆ”zquez cut it to 3-2 with a two-run homer off Gabe Speier in the eighth. It was VelĆ”zquezās eighth homer.
The Royals put runners on second and third with two outs in the inning, but Justin Topa struck out Salvador Perez to preserve the one-run lead. AndrƩs MuƱoz struck out the side in the ninth for his 10th save.
āYou can feel the positivity and the good vibes here,ā Castillo said. āItās a team that just wants to go out there and win.ā
Marsh allowed three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out nine in his seventh career start.
Kansas City lost for the 10th time in 12 games. Nine of its past 10 losses are by two runs or fewer.
āSuper frustrating series,ā Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. āReally a frustrating road trip. Played better than what the results ended up.ā
LAYING OUT
Seattle right fielder Dominic Canzone made a full-extension diving catch on a slicing line drive by Maikel Garcia in the sixth.
PITCH MAGNET
Seattleās Ty France was hit by a pitch for a franchise-record 28th time this season when Marsh plunked him with a slider in the second. France also held the previous mark, with 27 hit by pitches in 2021.
UP NEXT
Royals: RHP Zack Greinke (1-12, 5.34 ERA) faces Pittsburgh RHP Johan Oviedo (7-13, 4.46 ERA) on Monday to open a three-game series at home.
Mariners: Rookie RHP Bryan Woo (1-3, 4.58 ERA) starts against Oakland on Monday to begin a three-game set at home. The Aās have not announced a starter.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb