OAKLAND -- It's not often that someone lives up to their nickname quite as well as Luis Castillo.
Castillo was christened "La Piedra," or "The Rock," because he throws so hard that it's like he's throwing stones past opposing batters. But his nickname also might as well represent his composure on the mound, with a steady presence on the field that exudes calm and control.
That was the case even on Sunday afternoon in a 5-3 loss to the A’s, as the Mariners dropped a series to Oakland for the second time this season. It was Castillo's first loss as a Mariner, but he took it with the same even-keeled demeanor that he sports when he’s pitching.
"It's not easy," Castillo said via interpreter Manny Acta, "but not every day is going to be a great one."
Since being acquired from the Reds at the Trade Deadline, Castillo has lived up to the hype. In his first three starts with the Mariners, the right-hander went 1-0 with a 2.18 ERA (five earned runs in 20 2/3 innings) while striking out 24 batters. That dominance has been on display for much of the summer, as Castillo's teams had won his eight previous starts entering Sunday.
The 29-year-old right-hander hit his first real bump in the road with Seattle on Sunday afternoon, giving up four runs, all earned, on eight hits over five innings. It was the most runs Castillo has allowed as a Mariner, and just the second time all season that he has given up more than three earned runs.
The A's were quick to attack Castillo's stuff, as their leadoff batters reached base in four of his five innings of work. That early traffic made it difficult for him to establish a rhythm.
"I've got to give the A's credit, they were on Luis Castillo today," manager Scott Servais said. "Luis has been awesome for us since we acquired him -- maybe a few balls left in the middle of the plate -- but they were super aggressive. They were hunting fastballs, and they didn't miss them."
Oakland batters pounded Castillo's fastballs and sinkers for six of their eight hits against him, swinging early in the count and driving the ball hard. Once Castillo recognized those tendencies, he began mixing in more offspeed pitches.
"[I] went through the secondary pitches once [I] saw how aggressive they were," Castillo said. "[I] still feel that it could have been worse, and I came out of there with the game still reachable."
Seattle's offensive funk from the previous night persisted on Sunday, as the team strung together nine hits and four walks but went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The Mariners gradually chipped away at the A's lead, pulling within a run in the top of the seventh inning thanks to some clutch two-out hitting by Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez.
But just like Saturday, the Mariners again found themselves on the receiving end of some tough-luck outs.
"They made the plays," Servais said. "We hit some balls hard at some people today. Not for lack of effort or anything else from our guys today. We just didn't have enough to get over the top at the end."
The Mariners have a recent history of dominating the A's, as they have won 20 of the last 25 meetings between the two teams dating back to July 2021. While it may sting a bit to drop a series to the last-place team in the division, not much has changed for the Mariners in the big picture.
The Mariners are no longer in sole possession of the lead in the AL Wild Card race after the series loss, but they're still tied with the Rays and the Blue Jays for the top spot. After going from a season-worst 10 games under .500 the last time the club was in Oakland to 10 games over .500 at 66-56 even after the loss, Seattle's odds of making the playoffs have climbed to roughly 87%, per Fangraphs, putting the club in a good position to end the longest playoff drought in the four major North American sports leagues.
So while the Mariners find themselves searching for answers after this series, they're putting their confidence in the process that got them to this point.
"Just keep doing it," Ty France said. "They'll fall eventually. We're putting good swings on balls, so there's no reason to change it. [If] a couple of those balls drop, we have a different ballgame today."