Andres Munoz ensures Luis Castillo’s stellar outing stands for 2-1 Mariners win

SEATTLE – The chants of “Let’s go, Blue Jays!” weren’t quite as loud as years past and the throng of fans that made the trek south from Canada was diminished by comparison.

But in the ninth inning, the familiar chant arose again – albeit somewhat halfhearted – given the circumstances surrounding the team and a boisterous group of Mariners fans also in attendance, intent on drowning out any potential excitement.

Andres Munoz made sure they never grew in decibel level or hope. The Mariners’ closer worked a 1-2-3 inning without drama or incident to secure a 2-1 victory for the real home team at T-Mobile Park.

Seattle used a stellar outing from Luis Castillo and just enough offense to pick up a win in the series opener.

Castillo pitched 6⅔ innings, allowing one run on only two hits, with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Luke Raley thought he had at least a run-scoring double in the first inning when he lashed at a 1-1 fastball from Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman. Off the bat, it looked like a ball off the wall for at least a double, but Blue Jays left Daulton Varsho turned it into the third out of the inning with a brilliant catch as he crashed into the wall at full speed.

Raley got another opportunity with two outs and runners on first and second in the third. Thanks to the quick determination from assistant coach Andy Bissell, who handles the Mariners replay challenges, manager Scott Servais challenged an out call at first base. Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement made a terrific diving stop on Julio Rodriguez’s hard ground ball down the line. He scrambled to his feet and fired a one-hopper to first that was gloved by Spencer Horwitz. While the throw did barely beat Rodriguez, Bissell noticed that Horwitz’s foot had come off the bag to make the catch. The call was overturned and Rodriguez was safe at first, bringing Raley to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs.

When Gausman left another fastball out and over the plate, Raley put it in a place that Varsho couldn’t rob him.

The line drive sailed into the gap in left-center, scoring both runners easily. It snapped a run of 14 plate appearances without a hit for Raley.

But the Mariners wouldn’t muster any more runs off Gausman and he still managed to give the Blue Jays a quality start despite throwing 78 pitches over the first four innings.

His final line: six innings pitched, two runs allowed on six hits, with two walks and 10 strikeouts.