SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue an 11-day, 9-game road trip with the first of 3 games against the Toronto Blue Jays…Seattle just wrapped up a 3-game series against Philadelphia (1-2) and will also visit Oakland (3 G, 5/2-5/4) on the trip…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS Plus with Aaron Goldsmith and Mariners Hall of Famer Dan Wilson on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Dave Sims.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners dropped yesterday’s series finale to the Phillies by a 1-0 score…Seattle is 7-9 at T-Mobile Park and 4-5 on the road this season…the Mariners are 7-6 over their last 13 games since April 12.

• Programming Note – Tonight’s Mariners game airs live on ROOT SPORTS Plus.

• Lid Lifters – Seattle is 5-3 in series openers this season.

• Back on the Junior Circuit – The Mariners face an American League team for the first time in 19 days (4/9 at CLE)…Seattle played 15 consecutive interleague games from April 10-27.

• Defend! – Seattle ranks T2nd in Outs Above Average (8) this season with the Tigers, trailing only the Diamondbacks (10 OAA).

LA PIEDRA ‘ROCKS’…Luis Castillo is 2-0 with a 1.52 ERA (5 ER, 29.2 IP) with 6 walks and 34 strikeouts through his first 5 starts this season…the right-hander has been the 2nd-best pitcher in the American League by fWAR (1.4), trailing only Gerrit Cole-NYY (1.7) and just Cole and Zac Gallen-ARI (1.7) for the Major League lead…Castillo’s 1.67 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) ranks 2nd in the Majors to Jacob deGrom-TEX (1.42)…Luis has held his opponents scoreless in 3 of 5 outings.

JARRED KELENIC: AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE MONTH?…in 23 games this season, Jarred Kelenic is batting .316 (25×79) with 11 runs, 7 doubles, 7 home runs, 14 RBI, 3 stolen bases and 8 walks, while getting on base at a .375 clip and slugging .671 with a 1.046 OPS…Kelenic leads the American League in slugging (.671), ranking T2nd in fWAR (1.3), 2nd in wRC+ (190), 6th in batting average, T2nd in home runs, 2nd in OPS, T4th in extra-base hits (14) and T6th in total bases (53)…Jarred is batting .381 (8×21) with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 5 RBI against left-handed pitchers this season…Jarred is batting .406 (13×32) with 4 doubles, 4 home runs and 6 RBI in 9 road games this season.

LAST TIME IN THIS BUILDING…this series marks the Mariners first trip back to Toronto since they swept the Blue Jays in the American League Wild Card Series last October…the sweep included overcoming an 8-1 deficit to defeat the Blue Jays by a 10-9 final in Game 2 of the ALWC on Oct. 8…it was the largest postseason comeback by a road team in MLB history (7 runs) and tied for the 2nd-largest postseason comeback overall.

TOP-RATED PITCHING STAFF…the Mariners have the best pitching staff in the Majors by FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (4.4), ranking ahead of Minnesota (4.2), Atlanta (4.1) and Tampa Bay (4.1)…in 25 games this season, the Mariners staff has posted a 3.72 ERA (94 ER, 227.2 IP) with 79 walks and 226 strikeouts, posting a 1.234 WHIP while holding opponents to a .234 batting average…the Mariners starting rotation ranks T3rd in fWAR (3.0) with Houston, trailing Tampa Bay (3.6) and Minnesota (3.1)…the Mariners bullpen ranks 6th in fWAR (1.3), trailing Baltimore (1.8), Cincinnati (1.8), Atlanta (1.5), Pittsburgh (1.4) and Los Angeles-AL (1.4).

KING KIRBY…George Kirby was excellent in his start yesterday, tossing a career-high 8.0 innings while allowing just one run on 4 hits with one walk and 7 strikeouts…Kirby also notched his first career complete game in the 1-0 loss, becoming the first Seattle pitcher stuck with a CG loss since Taijuan Walker on Sept. 24, 2014 in a 1-0 loss at Toronto…through 30 Major League starts, Kirby carries the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.54) through a pitcher’s first 30 career starts in Major League history…Kirby has 24 walks and 157 strikeouts, surpassing Masahiro Tanaka’s strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.12) through his first 30 career MLB starts from 2014-15.

SEAUSWALD…Paul Sewald is 7-for-7 in save opportunities this season, going 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA (5 ER, 13.0 IP) with 3 walks and 17 strikeouts across 13 appearances…the righty has posted a 0.846 WHIP while holding opponents to a .174 batting average (8×46) this season…in 140 appearances with the Mariners (2021-c), Sewald owns the best WHIP (0.889) and lowest opponent batting average (.163/82×504) in franchise history among pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched.

J.P. THE ON-BASE MACHINE…J.P. Crawford has gotten on base at a .393 clip this season, leading the Mariners and ranking 8th in the American League…his 16 walks this season also lead the Mariners and are tied for 5th in the AL…over his last 14 games since April 11, the shortstop has gotten on base nearly half the time, registering a .489 OBP…during that span, he is batting .333 (12×36) with 10 runs, 4 doubles, 1 home run, 6 RBI and 11 walks compared to just 7 strikeouts, posting a 1.017 OPS.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END…Eugenio Suárez failed to reach base against the Phillies yesterday, snapping his career-high 21-game streak (4/2-4/26) of reaching base safely…in 25 games this season, the Mariners third baseman has reached safely in 23 of them.

AS YOU MAY KNOW…Luis Castillo has been stellar through 5 starts this season, going 2-0 with a 1.52 ERA (5 ER, 28.2 IP) with 34 strikeouts, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that the last time Luis faced the Blue Jays, he became the first Mariners pitcher to throw 7.0+ scoreless innings in a postseason game in franchise history?…on Oct. 7, 2022 in the Mariners first postseason game in nearly 21 years, Luis threw 7.1 scoreless innings with no walks and 5 strikeouts in the Mariners 4-0 win over the Jays at the Rogers Centre in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series.

TONIGHT’S MARINERS STARTER – RHP LUIS CASTILLO
ABOUT CASTILLO…
• The 30-year-old right-hander is set to make his 6th start of the season, 1st against the Blue Jays…he is also making his 154th Major League start and 2nd career start against Toronto.

• Has been named an All-Star in 2019 and 2022.

• Originally signed as an international free agent by the San Francisco Giants on 12/23/11.

• Made MLB debut on 6/23/17 vs. Washington (w/ Cincinnati)

• Signed a 5-year contract extension with the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 24, 2022 after being acquired in a trade with Cincinnati on July 30, 2022.

LAST TIME OUT…ND in last start on 4/22 vs. St. Louis…allowed 7 hits, 3 runs, and 2 walks in 5.0 innings pitched while striking out 8.
KEEPING THE BASES CLEAN…has only allowed 24 runners to reach base safely through 5 starts this season, ranking among Major League leaders in opponents average (6th, .170/18×106) and WHIP (4th, 0.809).

OFF TO A GOOD START…his 111 strikeouts through his first 16 Mariners starts are the most in Mariners history through a pitchers first 16 starts, ranking ahead of Robbie Ray’s 105 and Félix Hernández’s 103 strikeouts through their first 16 Mariners starts.

LAST TIME IN TORONTO…last time he faced the Blue Jays Castillo earned the win in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Toronto…tossed 7.1 scoreless innings allowing 6 hits while striking out 5.

KEEPING THEM IN THE YARD…is 1 of only 5 starting pitchers in the Major Leagues who has yet to allow a home run in at least 5 games started this season…the longest span of games to start a season with no home runs allowed by a starting pitcher in franchise history is 9 done by Erik Hanson to start the 1990 season… Castillo is set to make his 6th start of the season tonight.

NEARLY PERFECT…carried a perfect game into the 7th inning in his start against Colorado on 4/16…earned his second win of the season after pitching 7.0 scoreless innings and allowing only 2 hits while striking out a season-high 9 batters… the last pitcher to throw a perfect game in the Majors was Félix Hernández on 8/15/12.

HOT START…did not allow a run in either of his first 2 starts to begin the season, becoming just the third Mariners pitcher to do that, joining Félix Hernández (2007) and James Paxton (2017).

PREVIOUSLY ON OPENING DAY…became just the 3rd Mariners starter to hold the opponent scoreless in an Opening Day start, joining Félix Hernández (2007, 2013 & 2018) and Randy Johnson (1995)…he is the first player in franchise history to toss 6.0+ scoreless innings while allowing 1-or-fewer hits on Opening Day…his game score of 76 was the highest of any Opening Day starter this season.

FOR OPENERS…made his 3rd career Opening Day start on 4/30 vs. CLE and his first with the Mariners, becoming the 18th different pitcher to start on Opening Day in franchise history.

THE STONE WAS ROLLING…began his start on 9/7/22 vs. Chicago-AL by striking out the first 7 batters he faced, setting a franchise record for most strikeouts to begin a start, passing Michael Pineda (5 on 7/9/11 at LAA)…the 7 strikeouts also tied the AL record for most strikeouts to begin a game (done 4x, last: Blake Snell-TB, 6/3/18 vs. SEA).

A PERFORMANCE FOR THE AGES…ND on 8/9/22 against New York-AL in his home debut after being acquired by the Mariners on 7/30/22…tossed 8.0 scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 on 110 pitches, 72 for strikes…marked the 5th time in his career he has thrown 8.0+ innings, and just the 2nd time he has tossed 8.0+ scoreless innings (also: 9/21/18 at MIA)…induced 20 swings-and-misses, the third most he has induced in a game this season.

MAIDEN VOYAGE…struck out 8 in his first start with the Mariners on 8/3/22 at New York-AL…8 strikeouts are tied for the 3rd-most in a Mariners debut (also: Cliff Lee), trailing Andy Benes and Enrique Romo who struck out 9… Benes and Castillo both made their Mariners debuts on Aug. 3, after being acquired by the Mariners at the trade deadline.

NOW THAT’S QUALITY…recorded 8-consecutive quality starts from 6/28-8/15/22, a career-best streak (previous: 5, 2x (8/14-9/5/21 and 6/15-7/6/21 w/ CIN)…tossed a quality start in each of his first 3 starts with Seattle (8/3-8/15/22).

LA PIEDRA…tossed 7.0 innings and allowed 1 run in 3-consecutive starts from 7/3-7/14/22, striking out 22 batters over the 3 starts…3-consecutive starts of 7.0+ innings while allowing no more than 1 run was tied for the longest streak in the Majors with 7 other pitchers…marked the 1st time in his career he has tossed 7.0+ innings in 3-consecutive starts.

SEASON-HIGH PUNCHIES…struck out a season-high 11 batters on 6/28/22 at Chicago-NL over 6.0 scoreless innings (with CIN)…marked the 2nd-time he struck out 10+ in 2022, and the 14th time in his career…induced 23 swings-and-misses according to Baseball Savant, tied for the 6th-most he has induced in a game in his career (most: 26, 2x 7/15/19 and 8/5/19).

HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR…was named to his second All-Star team last season (also: 2019)…tossed a scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts at Dodger Stadium in last year’s Mid-Summer Classic.

COMPLETELY DOMINANT…threw his first career complete game on 9/11/20 at St. Louis with the Reds…allowed just 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts over 9.0 innings, earning the win for his efforts.

RARE AIR…from 3/28-4/9/19, Castillo became the 3rd pitcher in MLB history to record 3+ consecutive starts with at least 8 strikeouts and no more than 2 hits allowed, joining Rube Marquard for the 1911 New York Giants and Randy Johnson for the 1997 Mariners.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS NOTES:

THE LATEST: The Blue Jays claimed the finale of their three-game series with the White Sox by a score of 8-0 on Wednesday…Marked their 3rd shutout of the season, blanking their opponent in back-to-back games for the 1st time this season (last: Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2022 vs. BOS)…Have held opponents scoreless for 24.0 consecutive innings, four frames shy of the franchise record (28.0 IP from June 4-7, 1985). Toronto completed its 1st sweep of the season with the victory…Is 6-2-0 in series play (3-0-0 at home)…Has won four straight games, six of its last eight, and 15 of its last 21 contests…Toronto’s 16-9 record is tied for the best 25-game start to a season in franchise history (also: 1992, 2001, and 2009).

BO-ING DEEP: Bo Bichette smacked his 5th home run of the season on Wednesday, sending a solo shot off the left-field foul pole in the 7th inning…Also plated runs with RBI singles in each of the 3rd and 8th innings, going 3-for-4 on the day with three RBI…Among AL hitters, his nine multi-hit games are tied for 4th most, while his four games with at least three knocks are tied for the most. Has gone 36-for-106 (.340) with five doubles, five homers, and 15 RBI while playing in all 25 games this season…The 36 hits are the most in the AL (T-3rd in MLB)…Among AL batters, currently ranks 2nd in AVG and 3rd in total bases (56).

VLAD TO BE HERE: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. plated a pair of runs on Wednesday with a double down the right-field line in the 3rd inning before doubling again in the 7th… Marked his 9th multi-hit game of the year, tied for 4th most in the AL. The 24-year old is now 33-for-99 with five doubles, five homers, 15 RBI, and a 10BB/12K ratio for a .333 AVG (3rd in the AL), a .407 OBP (4th), and a .942 OPS (6th)…His 33 hits are the 2nd most in the AL while his 53 total bases rank T-6th…Has recorded 51 hard-hit balls (95+ MPH) this year, the most in the Majors (2nd: Paul Goldschmidt – 48).

GET ON WHIT IT: Whit Merrifield singled in a pair of runs in the 7th inning on Wednesday, finishing the day 2-for-4…The 34-year-old has reached base safely in all 19 of his games played this season, batting .313 (21-for-67) with six doubles, 10 RBI, and seven walks…His 19 game on-base stretch is the 4th-longest active streak in the AL (6th in MLB)…Is the 5th-longest on-base streak in his career (last: 23G from June 20-July 17, 2019).

THE YEAR OF YUSEI: Yusei Kikuchi improved to 4-0 on Wednesday, tossing 5.2 frames of shutout ball while scattering four singles and a walk along with eight strikeouts…Lowered his season ERA to 3.00 (9 ER/27.0 IP) to go with six walks and 28 punchouts…Has allowed one run or fewer in four of his five starts this year while the Blue Jays have won all five of his outings…The 31-year old now owns a 4.72 ERA over 37 career appearances (25 starts) with Toronto, compared to a 4.97 mark in 70 games as a Mariner.

HOME WORK: The Blue Jays are playing their 2nd homestand of the season…Have gone 7-2 so far at Rogers Centre…The nine home dates are tied with Detroit for the fewest in the AL…After this weekend series with Seattle, will hit the road for 10 games, playing in Boston (13-13), Pittsburgh (18-8), and Philadelphia (13-13). Toronto batters lead the AL in home batting average (.271) and home OBP (.361), while ranking 4th in home OPS (.787) and 5th in home SLG (.426)… The pitching staff has posted a 2.63 ERA during home contests (2nd in the AL) with a .189 opponents’ AVG (2nd) and a 1.02 WHIP (2nd).

HITTING IT: The Blue Jays have notched 223 hits so far this season, 2nd most in the AL…Are also 2nd in the AL in team batting average (.261), 2nd in OBP (.338), 6th in SLG (.415), and 6th in OPS (.753).

STARTING SOMETHING: Blue Jays starters during the last eight games have allowed five runs over 52.1 innings for a 0.86 ERA… Have given up 26 hits and 10 walks while fanning 48 hitters for a .144 opponents’ average and a 0.69 WHIP…Has been the best eight-game span all-time for Toronto starters in ERA, opponents’ AVG, opponents’ SLG (.189), and opponents’ OPS (.387)…Have recorded an AL-high 14 quality starts this season, trailing only Pittsburgh (16) for the most in the Majors.

NO IN BETWEEN: Toronto pitchers have now either allowed four-or-fewer runs or eight-or-more runs in all 25 games this season…According to Stats Perform, this is now the 2nd-longest such streak in the Wild Card era (since 1995), trailing only Cleveland in 2019 (39G).

SANTI’S STILL GOT IT: Santiago Espinal returned Wednesday for his first action since being hit on the hand by a pitch last Saturday…Notched a trio of singles, finishing the day 3-for-4 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored…Marked his 1st three-hit game of the season, and the 15th of his career…Has gone 5-for-8 over his last five games after going just 2-for-31 in his previous nine.

VS. THE MARINERS: All-Time: 217-202
2022: 2-5 Home: 116-97
Home: 2-1 Rogers Stadium: 74-66
The Blue Jays went 2-5 vs. the Mariners during the regular season last year…Went 2-1 here at Rogers Centre in May but also lost both games to their 1977 expansion cousins during the Wild Card Series in October. George Springer had hits in all six of his regular season games vs. Seattle last year and added two more in the playoffs, combining to go 9-for-32 (.281) with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, and five RBI
(.594 SLG)…In 107 career regular season meetings, has gone 107-for-415 (.258) with 19 doubles, two triples, 24 homers, and 62 RBI (.838 OPS). Bo Bichette batted .297 (11-for-37) in the nine total games vs. the M’s last year, including a double, two home runs, and six RBI…Holds a career .313 (26-for83) average with three doubles, five homers, and 14 RBI in 19 matchups (.860 OPS). Erik Swanson will face his former club for the 1st time as he was acquired along with Adam Macko in exchange for Teoscar Hernández on Nov. 16, 2022…Was traded to Seattle in 2018 and played four seasons for the M’s, going 4-12 with six saves while posting a 4.13 ERA over 126 appearances

STARTING PITCHER – Alek Manoah, RHP #6
TODAY’S GAME:
Making his 6th start of the season and his 3rd at Rogers Centre…Threw 7.0 shutout frames his last time out on 4/22 at NYY, scattering just 2 hits and a walk with a season-high-tying 5 strikeouts…Was his 2nd outing with 7.0 scoreless innings this season (also: 4/5 at KC). Since entering the league in 2021, has held opposing hitters to a .202 AVG, good for 6th best among qualified hurlers.

2023 HIGHLIGHTS:
Took the loss on 4/16 vs. TB, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing a career-high 7 earned runs on 9 hits and 4 walks with 5 punchouts…Threw 101
pitches (61 strikes), eclipsing the century mark for the 1st time this year. Took a no-decision in the team’s Home Opener on 4/11 vs. DET, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits and 5 walks over 4.1 innings with 3 strikeouts…Became the 5th pitcher in team history to pitch the club’s Season Opener and then their Home Opener, joining Jim Clancy (1981), Jimmy Key (1989), Marcus Stroman (2016), and Hyun Jin Ryu (2020). Earned his 1st win of the year on 4/5 at KC, tossing 7.0 frames of one-hit, shutout ball with four walks and five strikeouts. Was the Opening Day starter for the Blue Jays on 3/30 at STL…Took a no-decision that day, giving up 5 runs on a career-high 9 hits and 2 walks over 3.1 innings with 3 strikeouts… At 25 years and 80 days old, became the 4th-youngest Opening Day starter in team history (Drew Hutchison – 24.227 in 2015; Todd Stottlemyre – 24.324 in 1990; Marcus Stroman 24.338 in 2016).