WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Mariners had virtually everything going right on Monday night, a rarity within a season that has bled from frustratingly inconsistent to borderline maddening.
Yet, for all the good that came out of a runaway, 9-2 win over the Athletics, not everyone in the visiting dugout at Sutter Health Park was happy about how things played out.
Because the almost unthinkable frustration shown by Luis Castillo illustrated the social and emotional tightrope that the Mariners are attempting to walk amid the piggyback strategy within their rotation.
Castillo was seen slamming his glove into the dugout bench moments after a lengthy exchange with manager Dan Wilson in the top of the fifth, a conversation that obviously did not include audio but showed enough facial expression and hand signals to suggest what was being said.
In the midst of his best start since March within a mostly disappointing season, Castillo was being informed that he was being pulled for Bryce Miller, the other arm in this piggyback tandem.
Castillo was at 68 pitches and had surrendered just two hits with six strikeouts among the 17 batters he’d faced. Miller, meanwhile, pushed Seattle to the finish line with five innings himself, allowing two runs on five hits.
The two flip-flopped within the piggyback after the tactic’s first go-round last Tuesday, when Miller started and Castillo followed. In that one, Miller had a similar fate -- and reaction -- upon learning he was being relieved after 72 pitches and 5 2/3 innings, after taking a no-hitter into the sixth.
In that one, Castillo followed with two scoreless frames but was sent back out for the ninth despite a 1-0 lead and closer Andrés Muñoz available. Castillo then allowed the first two runners to reach, Muñoz gave up consecutive singles to allow them to score and Seattle absorbed arguably its most agonizing loss of the year.
In an odd reality Monday, at least given Castillo’s frustration, Wilson and the rest of the Mariners’ decision makers probably couldn’t have drawn up the outcome and pitcher usage more effectively.
Their offense put up a six-spot in the third inning, headlined by a pair of two-run homers from Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone, then J.P. Crawford followed with a solo shot to lead off the fourth. For good measure, Randy Arozarena clubbed a two-run shot in the ninth, as the Mariners played to the extremely windy conditions.
That gave the arms -- and more so, management -- plenty of breathing room to work with, to map out pitch counts and keep both Castillo and Miller stretched out. Yet, that picture-perfect allocation took a backseat to the broader dynamic that’s been at the rotation’s forefront the past two weeks.
Which is that not everyone is going to be happy about when and how they’re used.