DENVER — Luis Castillo pitched two-hit ball over seven innings to win for the first time in five starts this season, Cal Raleigh homered among a career-high four hits and the Seattle Mariners overcame intermittent rain and snow to beat the Colorado Rockies 7-0 on Saturday night.
Julio Rodríguez added four hits and two RBIs for the Mariners, who sent the Rockies to a sixth consecutive loss and dropped Colorado to 4-16 — with four of the losses shutouts. The 20-game start is the worst in Rockies history.
Temperature at first pitch was 33 degrees and dropped to 31 during the game.
A split doubleheader is scheduled for Sunday to make up for the postponement of the series opener Friday due to a storm that left 7 inches of snow over greater Denver.
Castillo (1-4) struck out nine and and walked one, lowering his ERA from 5.82 to 4.40. Last year he took a perfect game bid into the seventh inning against the Rockies. “It was unbelievable for Luis Castillo to go out there in that kind of weather and perform like that,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I didn’t know what we were going to get out there, but I knew the weather was going to be nasty. But from the get-go, he was very determined, he was locked in.” Castillo, speaking through an interpreter, maintained he just tried to put the elements out of his mind. “It was cold, very cold but when you’re doing something that you love, you don’t want stuff like that to affect you,” Castillo said. Elias Díaz lined a clean single to center with two outs in the fourth and Sean Bouchard hit a high infield popup that fell for a single in the fifth when first baseman Ty France lost the ball in the lights. That was all the hitting the Rockies managed against Castillo. “He located his fastball well but also kept the slider down and his changeup away from us,” said Nolan Jones, who struck out twice against Castillo. “I think he did a good job executing all of his pitches.”
Dakota Hudson (0-4) gave up four runs — three earned — six hits and five walks in three innings. He has lost five straight starts and six decisions dating to last September. “I can’t really make any excuses out there,” said Hudson, who had grip problems at times. “It was cold, but that’s part of the game. I've just got to be better.” Raleigh started the second inning with his fourth homer of the season, an opposite-field drive into the left-field bleachers, He added an RBI single for a 2-0 lead in the third.
Jonatan Clase hit a two-run single in a four-run fifth off Victor Vodnik, and a third run scored when the ball skipped under the glove of right fielder Bouchard and rolled to the warning track for an error. Clase also tried to score but was thrown out at the plate when second baseman Alan Trejo relayed Bouchard's throw to catcher Elias Díaz.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rockies: 2B Brendan Rodgers missed a fourth consecutive game with an illness but has improved and could return to the lineup as soon as Sunday. "Rodgers is better," manager Bud Black said. "Just want to give him one more day to gain some more strength."
UP NEXT
Seattle RHP George Kirby (2-2, 6.64 ERA) is set to start Sunday's first game against Colorado RHP Cal Quantrill (0-2, 5.57 ERA) and Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (1-2, 7.98 ERA) the second game against Rockies RHP Peter Lambert (2-0, 2.31 ERA).