Mariners announce Luis Castillo will start Sunday vs. Twins

SEATTLE – That the Mariners were still officially listing the starter for Sunday’s game as undecided as late as Saturday afternoon, and that the team had called up Jhonathan Diaz the day before led many to conclude Diaz would get the start in the series finale against the Twins.

Instead, manager Scott Servais said Saturday afternoon that Luis Castillo will get the start in Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. game against the Twins, who will counter with righty Joe Ryan.

Sunday’s game had been left up in the air due to the unavailability of Bryan Woo, who is on the 15-day injured list with a hamstring strain. Woo is eligible to return July 8.

Calling up the lefty Diaz led some to wonder if Seattle might start him Saturday against the Twins and then allow the rotation to pick up from there with Bryce Miller going Sunday.

As of late Friday, nothing had been set.

But Seattle then announced Miller as the starter for Saturday’s game, and Servais then told media before the game that Castillo will go Sunday.

The Mariners are off Monday, and if Diaz had started Sunday, Seattle could have then started Castillo on six days rest to open what looms as a key three-game series against Baltimore on Tuesday and moved the rest of the rotation back a day.

Diaz has one start this season, filling in for Woo on June 11 when he allowed three runs in 5.1 innings against the Chicago White Sox. Diaz is also 8-1 with a 3.26 ERA in 13 starts and 14 appearances in Tacoma.

The decision appeared to leave the option open for Seattle to go to Diaz to pitch significant innings out of the bullpen if needed in the final two games against the Twins.

Castillo will start on four days rest against Minnesota.

And while more rest is generally considered as better, Castillo has statistically been at his best this season when going on four days rest instead of five or more.

Castillo is 3-3 with a 3.00 earned-run average and a .231 batting average against on four days rest compared to 3-5 and a 4.10 ERA on five days of rest and 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA on six or more days of rest, according to Baseball Reference.

The rotation then lines up that Seattle can begin its series against a Baltimore team that entered Saturday leading the Major Leagues in runs scored (431) with George Kirby on Tuesday and Logan Gilbert on Wednesday and then likely back to Miller on Thursday.

Aggressive coaching move pays off

Servais understood the feelings of anyone watching Friday night who might have questioned the decision of third base coach Manny Acta to send Mitch Haniger home on a double by Josh Rojas in the fifth inning.

Asked Saturday about that decision by a questioner who called it “aggressive,’’ Servais quickly interrupted.

“That was very aggressive,’’ Servais said to laughter. “Let’s be clear on that.’’

But Servais said there was some method to the apparent madness.

Seattle was locked in a 0-0 tie, and with Gilbert having allowed just three hits to that point, any run figured to be vital.

And the play came with two outs on what was just Seattle’s second hit to that point — Haniger had reached on a two-out walk.

And while Seattle’s offense had shown some signs of life over the previous few weeks, the Mariners also had scored three runs or fewer in five of their eight games before Friday night.

“One of the reasons Manny was as aggressive as he was last night, it’s been hard for us to put three or four hits together in an inning,’’ Servais said. “We got a walk, we got a two-out double, oh boy, maybe we’ll take a chance.’’

It looked like a losing bet when the relay throw left the hand of Twins second baseman Willi Castro, with Haniger still far up the third-base line.

But Twins catcher Christian Vazquez couldn’t handle the throw and the ball got by him and Haniger was able to score standing up to give Seattle a 1-0 lead in a game it eventually won 3-2.

“We caught a break,’’ Servais said. “You need to have that happen once in a while, too. But we took a chance because we haven’t been able to put the bigger innings together where we are putting three or four hits together in a row.’’