The Mariners wasted no time getting things going in their first playoff game in over 20 years, as they took down the Blue Jays 4-0 and didn’t look nervous at all in their highly anticipated playoff return.
Eugenio Suarez started things off for the Mariners when he doubled in the first inning which brought rookie Julio Rodriguez home for the first Mariner run of the day. Cal Raleigh rewarded Suarez with a home run that brought both Raleigh and Suarez to home plate to make it 3-0 before the Mariner defense even took the field.
Julio Rodriguez added another run to make it a 4-0 ballgame at the top of the 5th inning, thanks to another hit from Suarez.
Luis Castillo pitched 7.1 innings in his Mariner playoff debut, allowing six hits while throwing five strikeouts with no errors. Andres Munos relieved Castillo and threw two strikeouts while allowing one hit. The Blue Jays tried their chances with six different pitchers, led by Alek Manoah who pitched 5.2 innings.
The Mariners and the Blue Jays will play game two on Saturday, with a first pitch time of 1:07 from Toronto. The Mariners just need to win one more game against Toronto to advance to the American League Divisional Series.