Castellani looks like a veteran in strong major league debut
ROCKIES 5, MARINERS 0
Facing the first batter of his professional career, Ryan Castellani blew three straight fastballs past J.P. Crawford to earn his first strikeout.
It was a sign of things to come. Making his major league debut, Castellani and the rest of the Rockies pitching staff were dominant, hurling a combined one-hitter in a 5-0 win over the Mariners on Saturday in Seattle. The team is now a Mlb-best 11-3, and 6-1 on the road.
The Rockies haven’t lost away from Coors Field since their opening day defeat to the Texas Rangers. Saturday’s win also secures the series win — the Rockies’ fifth straight to start the season.
Getting the ball just a day after he was recalled from the taxi squad to make the spot start in place of Chi Chi Gonzalez, Castellani looked like a veteran on the mound at T-mobile Park.
The 24-year-old was perfect through four innings, leaving in the fifth without surrendering a hit. He also struck out three, and became just the second player in Rockies history to retire the first 12 batters he faced in his debut since Tyler Matzek sat down 13 consecutive batters June 11, 2014, according to STATS Research.
The Mariners also called on a spot starter Saturday. But once Seattle turned to the bullpen, Colorado was finally able to get Castellani some run support.
A double and a walk to start the fifth led Seattle manager Scott Servais to pull Anthony Misiewicz (0-1) for Joey Gerber. Rockies’ shortstop Trevor Story then singled to load the bases and bring up the hot-hitting Charlie Blackmon. He launched a double deep off the wall in right to clear the bases and give the Rockies a 3-0 lead. Blackmon later scored on a Daniel Murphy base hit.
Saturday was another great night for Blackmon, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games. For the first three innings, the four-time all-star was the only player who reached base. He finished the game 3-for-4 with two doubles, a single, a walk, three RBIS and a run scored. Murphy also had a nice night, going 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Colorado picked up another run in the sixth on a two-out Story single to wrap up the scoring. Every player but one in the starting lineup reached base.
The Mariners finally broke the no-hitter up in the bottom of the sixth after Crawford singled up the middle against Jeff Hoffman (2-0), who added three innings of long relief to get the win. That was essentially all the Rockies bullpen allowed though, and Yency Almonte and Phillip Diehl wrapped things up.
The Rockies will go for the series sweep against the Mariners at 2:10 p.m. Sunday.