Seattle Mariners fans ecstatic as team records first postseason win since 2001: “Keep It Rollin'! Go Mariners!”, “Take care of business today and come home to a hero’s welcome”

By Souvanik Seal

Modified Oct 11, 2022 08:26 GMT

Wild Card Series - Seattle Mariners v Toronto Blue Jays - Game One — Luis Castillo #21 of the Seattle Mariners is congratulated by Manager Scott Servais as he leaves Game One of the AL Wild Card series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on October 7, 2022

Luis Castillo’s stellar display in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series helped the Seattle Mariners cruise to a 4-0 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays in Seattle’s first postseason outing since 2001.

The Seattle Mariners mortgaged a chunk of their future to go all-in on the present, as Edwin Arroyo, Noelvi Marte, Andrew Moore and Levi Stoudt were traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Castillo. 10 weeks have gone by since, and the Mariners couldn’t have envisioned a better return on their aggressive move.

Castillo turned out to be too much for the Blue Jays to handle, as the right-hander recorded 7 ⅓ scoreless innings on Friday. In doing so, Castillo became the first pitcher in Mariners history to throw seven or more scoreless frames in a postseason game.

Castillo’s only other postseason start came with Cincinnati in 2020, when he lost to Atlanta in the wild-card round. Castillo allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings in that one, but the Reds were eliminated with a 5-0 defeat.

The Seattle Mariners have their sights on wrapping up the series in Game 2

The Seattle Mariners offense punished Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah by scoring three runs in the top of the first. Eugenio Suárez scored an RBI double before Cal Raleigh smashed a two-run homer to make it 3-0. Raleigh became the first player in Mariners history to homer in his first career postseason at-bat.

In the fifth inning, Manoah hit Julio Rodriguez. Ty France moved him to third, and Suárez picked up an RBI fielder’s choice to stretch Seattle’s lead to 4-0.

The series winner will play the American League West champions Houston Astros in the AL Division Series starting Tuesday in Texas.

About the author

Souvanik Seal is a senior journalist covering Major League Baseball (MLB) at Sportskeeda and began his media career at the age of 16. Since then, he has worked for some of the biggest publications in the world like Goal and Daily Mirror.

Souvanik also has an extensive background in Public Relations, having serviced brands like Eurosport, Spalding, Dunlop and Paytm. He has also managed PR deliverables for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

Souvanik holds an MA in Journalism from Dublin City University and an MBA in Sports Management from EDC Paris Business School.

His list of favorites includes Ken Griffey Jr., Ichiro Suzuki and Alex Rodriguez, as well as Shohei Ohtani, Jose Altuve and Bryce Harper from the current crop. His favorite MLB moments include the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series in 2016 (ending a 108-year drought), the Red Sox ending the 'Curse of Bambino,' and the Arizona Diamondbacks reaching the World Series in 2023.

Besides speaking English, Bengali and Hindi, Souvanik is also fluent in French.

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