Mariners' bats break through, but ‘piggyback' drama overshadows rout of A's

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Pacing back and forth in the visitors' dugout, Luis Castillo wore the expression and demeanor of a man preparing to enter the ring for a heavyweight title bout.

All that was missing were boxing gloves, and it's probably good for everyone that Castillo didn't have any of those within reach after he was taken out of Monday's game.

On a rare feel-good night when the Mariners bats finally busted out with four home runs in a breezy 9-2 victory over the Athletics, the drama surrounding Castillo, Bryce Miller and the club's tag-team pitching plan appeared to reach a tipping point during the fifth inning.

That's when manager Dan Wilson sat down on the dugout bench alongside Castillo and informed the Mariners' erstwhile ace that he was being pulled so Miller could enter as the second half of the "piggyback" plan.

Castillo, at that point, had pitched his best game in nearly two months, twirling four scoreless innings on 68 pitches, and the 33-year-old right-hander was visibly upset during an animated conversation with Wilson, as captured by TV crews from both teams' broadcasts.

It's not an easy or exact science, and so you have to make your adjustments as you go," Wilson said postgame. "That was a tough one, for sure."

Castillo said he tried to make a pitch to throw one more inning. Wilson explained that Miller was already warmed up and ready to go in the bullpen and he didn't want to make Miller wait.

Castillo sighed heavily, rolled his eyes and turned both palms upward. He threw his hat and his glove, a sight all the more startling because of his well-earned reputation as a positive and reassuring presence on the club.

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And because the visitors' clubhouse is located way out beyond the left-field fence here at Sutter Health Park - a Triple-A stadium serving as the Athletics' home until their scheduled move to Las Vegas in 2028 - Castillo couldn't immediately escape behind the scenes.

He remained in the dugout, continuing to stew, when Miller emerged from the bullpen to begin the bottom of the fifth.

"It's a plan that, for at least my seasons here in the major leagues, I've never seen, this piggyback," Castillo said postgame, via team interpreter Freddy Llanos. " … As a competitor, you want to go out there and just continue (to pitch). But at the same time … we knew that was part of the plan and you've got to respect what his decision was."

After the game, Castillo was all smiles outside the clubhouse, and he was the first to greet Miller with a handshake and a bro hug.

Neither pitcher is comfortable with his current role. Castillo made that clear with his body language, and Miller made that clear with the words he used in postgame interviews.

"I haven't done this in a while, really, since college, pitching out of bullpen," Miller said. "So I don't know. I didn't really know how to navigate it, but just did the best I could.

The piggyback plan nearly worked to perfection when the Mariners debuted it back in Seattle last week against the Chicago White Sox. Miller, in his second start since returning from the injured list, threw 5.2 shutout innings, allowing only one hit and eventually helping to hand over a 1-0 lead to Castillo.

Castillo, in the first regular-season relief appearance of his 10-year big-league career, threw two scoreless innings, but then was charged with two runs in the ninth in a 2-1 loss during which Wilson initially bungled a pitching change to bring in closer Andrés Muñoz.

This week, the Mariners opted to flip the plan, allowing Castillo the chance to start and Miller to follow in his first career relief appearance.

The results Monday night were as good as the Mariners could have hoped for. Castillo allowed just two hits with two walks and six strikeouts, and Miller followed with five sharp innings of two-run ball, allowing the rest of the bullpen a full night off.

The execution of the plan, however, clearly did not sit well with either pitcher.

Miller didn't find out that he'd be working out of the bullpen until a day or two before Monday's game, and the uncertainty around his role seemed to bother him more than the plan itself.

How the club chooses to move forward with six healthy starting pitchers will remain a prominent storyline until a suitable resolution is found.

The Mariners offense, at least, found some life on a blustery evening in Yolo County, with wind gusts reported up to 25 mph in the area.

On Memorial Day, the American flag beyond the fence in right field whipped in all directions, and the wind no doubt played at least a small part in helping home runs from Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone clear the fence in the third inning.

Those two-run blasts highlighted the Mariners' six-run inning off Athletics starter Aaron Civale and helped pull the Mariners (26-29) within 1.5 games of the A's (27-27) atop the AL West.

The six runs scored in the third are the most the M's have scored in any inning this season.

The M's sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, starting with Colt Emerson's leadoff walk, and they were aided by a wide throw from second baseman Jeff McNeil on a potential double-play ball off the bat of Josh Naylor, allowing Emerson to score from third for the game's first run.

The Mariners had six hits in the inning, including the homers from Raley and Canzone, and doubles from Randy Arozarena and Cole Young.

J.P. Crawford belted his seventh homer of the season leading off the fourth inning, a 414-foot blast to straightaway center.

Arozarena belted a 437-foot homer in the ninth inning, a two-run shot, to make it 9-1. He knew he'd hit it out instantly, and he stopped and admired his sixth homer of the season.

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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 11:45 PM.