Luis Castillo can't close late lead, White Sox rally past stunned Mariners

The Mariners' experiment with a piggyback pitching plan could not have started any better.

And it could not have finished much worse.

For the second time in three days, the Mariners' offense was held to only one hit - a Julio Rodríguez first-inning single - and Luis Castillo couldn't close out a one-run lead in the ninth inning, as the Chicago White Sox rallied for a 2-1 victory Tuesday night to stun an energetic crowd at T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners were also held to one hit in an 8-3 loss to San Diego on Sunday, and they've now lost five of their last seven.

At 23-27, the Mariners have reached the 50-game mark as one of the most disappointing teams in baseball.

It is a tough spot, because we know how good we are and how good we should be," Mariners starter Bryce Miller said after a stellar outing in which he allowed only one hit over 5 2/3 shutout innings. "It feels like we've given games away multiple times."

Castillo piggybacked off Miller's strong start with two encouraging innings in the first regular-season relief appearance of his career.

Trying to protect a 1-0 lead, Castillo immediately ran into trouble in the ninth, walking Munetaka Murakami to open the inning and then hitting the next batter, Miguel Vargas, with a 95-mph sinker on a 1-2 pitch.

After Dan Wilson's botched attempt at a pitching change, both of those base runners would eventually score on soft singles off Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz.

That Wilson, holding a 1-0 lead, didn't turn to Muñoz to begin the ninth with a clean inning will certainly come under scrutiny.

"We felt really comfortable with 'Rock' out there, especially the way he was throwing the ball," Wilson said. "It just didn't go our way there in the ninth."

The Mariners had entered uncertain territory going into Tuesday's game with the tag-team pitching plan, turning to Miller to start and Castillo slotted as the piggyback option out of the bullpen.

"It didn't change anything for me," Miller said. "Usually I just go and throw until they take it from me. Shoutout to 'Rock.' I know it's not an easy situation for him at all. He's a great dude, great teammate, and handled it the best he could."

Miller was sensational in his first home start of the season. He fired the fastest pitch of his career - 99.3 mph - in the first inning, and allowed only the one hit with one walk and seven strikeouts.

With the tying run at second base, Miller looked perturbed when Wilson took the ball from him with two outs in the sixth inning and Murakami - Chicago's rookie sensation from Japan - stepping to the plate for his third at-bat of the game.

Miller, at 72 pitches, tried to state his case to stay in.

"I thought I pitched the ball well up until then," he said. "I wasn't thinking I was coming out. But ..."

Lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer came in and struck out Murakami on four pitches to end the sixth inning, allowing Castillo to take over with a clean start in the seventh, as the Mariners had mapped out.

Castillo was sharp when he emerged out of the bullpen to start the seventh inning, striking out the first three batters he faced on fastballs.

The veteran right-hander escaped a jam in the eighth inning when he got Sam Antonacci to ground out to Colt Emerson at shortstop to strand two runners.

"For me, nothing changes," Castillo said postgame, via team interpreter Freddy Llanos. "I mean, same guy, same mentality, same teammate. You're coming in here and trying to support everyone you can, and for me that mentality has always given me results. The only thing that has changed (is it's a) different job, coming in at a different position. So just come in, get ready and try to be the best teammate that I can and try to execute my job the best I can."

Back out for the ninth, trying to preserve the 1-0 lead, Castillo couldn't finish it.

Wilson had tried to make a pitching change to call in Muñoz after the first two White Sox reached, but because pitching coach Pete Woodworth had just made a mound visit moments before - before another pitch was thrown - home plate umpire Ryan Blakney told Wilson a change was not allowed then.

"You're not to go back out, and that's on me," Wilson said. "I thought we could still go out and make the change. Thankfully, 'Rock' got the punchout and we were able to (then) make the change.

Castillo promptly struck out Colson Montgomery for the first out of the inning, then prompting Wilson to make the call to Muñoz out of the bullpen.

After the White Sox executed a double steal, Chase Meidroth sent a soft single just past Josh Naylor near first base to tie the score at 1-1.

Andrew Benintendi followed with a soft single that deflected off the glove of a diving Naylor, driving in the winning run.

The Mariners' record fell to 6-9 against left-handed starters.

They had made a couple changes to their lineup against left-handed pitching. Veteran Patrick Wisdom, fresh off the injured list, made his first start of the season, playing third base and batting fifth, and he drove in the Mariners' only run on a bases-loaded groundout in the first inning.

After a Connor Joe walk loaded the bases again, White Sox starter Anthony Kay struck out Mitch Garver to end the inning.

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