CHICAGO – It was a night when the conditions – a listed 49 degrees at first pitch that only dropped as the game wore on, buffeted by winds of 14 miles an hour – were almost rougher than the opponent for the Seattle Mariners.
“It was just the situation,’’ said Mariner outfielder Julio Rodriguez of Monday night’s game against the woebegone Chicago White Sox here at Rate Field. “It was cold, yeah, but you’ve still got to go out there and win the ballgame. I feel like that’s the mentality we all had – get in and get out.’’
The Mariners executed that plan almost perfectly.
First, starting pitcher Luis Castillo went with an aggressive fastball-heavy approach to limit the White Sox to three hits and no runs over seven innings.
Then Rodriguez hit the first pitch he saw from Chicago reliever Cam Booser with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to club his second career grand slam and put the finishing touches on an eventual 5-1 win over the White Sox in front of a listed 10,380.
The Mariners won their fourth in a row to start this 10-game road trip following a 1-5 home stand, improved to 27-19 to again move a season-high-tying eight games over .500, and guaranteeing they would stay 2.5 games ahead of the rest in the American League West.
Seattle also improved to 14-8 on the road, the best record by percentage away from home in the Major Leagues.
The White Sox, meanwhile, fell to 14-34, the same pace after 48 games as they had a year ago when they finished with a franchise-record 121 losses.
“Just a good game all around,’’ said Mariner manager Dan Wilson.
The former Mariners catcher was fully on-board with the plan current catcher Cal Raleigh and Castillo devised to go after the White Sox hitters and make them put the ball in play when the wind and the cold figured to mean anything hit in the air may not travel far.
Castillo threw four-seam fastballs on 53 of 94 pitches and sinkers on 18 more, according to baseballsavant.com, with just 18 sliders and five changeups.
“He had everything going and attacked the zone, got ahead early, controlled the count on most of the hitters and I thought that’s exactly what we needed from him and great to get that,’’ Wilson said.
In August 2023, Castillo once threw 47 straight fastballs in a game against the White Sox.
Raleigh brought that up before Monday’s game.
“Cal said ‘let’s go for 50 today,’ ’’ Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “I said ‘all right, let’s do it.’ And when we were at the game we were at 27 (straight), and he asked me for a slider and I just kind of laughed at him and said ‘all right, we’ll stay on 27.’ We didn’t quite get there.’’
It was good enough for Castillo to retire the last 14 batters he faced, the last coming on what was the defensive play of the game – a diving catch by left fielder Randy Arozarena of a sinking liner off the bat of Chicago’s Andrew Vaughn.
The White Sox challenged the ruling as the ball appeared to move slightly in the webbing of the glove as Arozarena hit the ground before rolling over and controlling it. But the catch was upheld after replay.“Just a great play,’’ Wilson said. “I thought it was a tough catch, a sinking line drive like that.’’
Seattle had just one run to that point, coming when the Mariners got three straight singles with two outs in the third inning off White Sox starter Davis Martin. Jorge Polanco’s single to right drove in Ben Williamson for the run.
Seattle didn’t get another hit until the eighth when Williamson singled with one out, compelling the White Sox to take out Martin, who seemed to keep the Mariners left-handed hitters off-balance with his cutter, and replace him with Booser.
J.P. Crawford walked and Mitch Garver then singled, bringing up Rodriguez.
Knowing Booser might want to get ahead in the count, Rodriguez said “I was ready to swing and find something I could drive and maybe bring in one more run.’’
Instead, his screaming liner off an 88-mile an hour cutter just cleared the left-field wall – it was judged at 365 feet – for what was the second grand slam of his career. The first came in Texas on July 15, 2022 off Jose Leclerc.
“I thought that was a great at-bat, getting up there and being ready and putting a good swing on that pitch,’’ Wilson said.
It was the eighth home run of the season for Rodriguez but his fourth in May. He had only two last year until May 25.
The home run seems the latest indication he’s shaking off a slow start that had his average at .196 on April 27. He’s now at .235 and has hits in seven straight games and 11 of his last 12.
“Felt really good to put good contact on the ball,’’ he said. “Just trying to continue to build on that and bring it home for the next day.’’
The only disappointment came in the bottom of the ninth when Troy Taylor gave up two walks and two hits and Chicago’s first run, compelling Wilson to bring on Andres Munoz to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
But in keeping with the theme of the night, Munoz made quick work of Michael A. Taylor, striking him out on four pitches to get his 15th save and still has not allowed an earned run in 20.2 innings.
“He’s been so consistent,’’ Wilson said. “Just came in there and did what he does, which is he gets ahead and keeps the ball down, and whether it’s his fast ball or his slider it’s devastating stuff. A great job by him in a tough situation.’’
That proved a final deflation for what was left of a crowd that got to see the White Sox unveil a graphic installation near Section 140 honoring Pipe Leo XIV, who famously attended game 1 of the 2005 World Series – which Chicago won over Houston.
Game two of the three-game series is set for Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. Seattle time. But the weather forecast calls for a 98% chance of rain along with some thunder and wind, potentially putting the game in jeopardy.