PETERSBURG, Fla. — This is where the Mariners would be if the regular season ended today, preparing for an opening-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Ahead of schedule, Luis Castillo has already arrived in postseason form.
The Mariners' ace worked through some early control issues to pitch six scoreless innings Thursday, and Andres Muñoz closed the door in a shaky ninth inning to complete the Mariners' shutout in a 1-0 victory at Tropicana Field in the opening game of a four-game series featuring the American League's top two wild-card teams.
Castillo walked four in the first three innings, but settled down after that. He allowed just four hits and struck out eight to stay firmly in the AL Cy Young conversation.
"It's really hard to win a game 1-0," manager Scott Servais said. "You need a lot of guys to step up on the mound, and our guys did."
Mike Ford drove in the game's only run with a sharp single up the middle in the second inning to score Eugenio Suarez, who had doubled to lead off the inning.
The Mariners' 14 shutouts this season are the most in the AL. This was the Mariners' first 1-0 victory over the Rays since Felix Hernandez's perfect game in 2012.
At 79-61, the Mariners moved within a half game of idle Houston (80-61) atop the AL West.
The Rays (85-56) have a 5.5-game lead over the Mariners for the top spot in the wild-card standings.
Over the past couple years, the Mariners have proven they are built to win these types of close games.
This one was especially notable not only because it came in the midst of a September playoff chase but also because it came against a Rays team accustomed to winning these types of games too.
"Very similar," Servais said of the two teams. "They have great pitching. They play really fundamentally sound baseball. It comes down to a pitch or an executed play here or there, and we got it done tonight."
Servais acknowledged he was a little nervous early when Castillo's pitch count shot up quickly with those four walks.
In each of the first three innings, Castillo put two runners on base with only one out — and each time he was able to escape unscathed.
"In those situations, I don't lose focus," Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. "If you look at my career, I actually like those situations because it helps me really get focused."
Castillo gave his patented fist pump after he struck out Taylor Walls with a 95-mph fastball on his final pitch of the night.
"The one thing I will say about 'The Rock' is he knows where he's at in the game, and he has the ability ... to dial it up late in the game," Servais said. "Right when you think the guy's starting to tire, he doesn't. And it's an awesome trait to have. Not many have it."
Dominic Canzone backed Castillo with an acrobatic catch for the first out of the sixth inning. Sprinting to the left-field line, he made the catch right in front of the foul pole, then held on after tumbling over the short wall in foul territory.
"For me, that catch was the reason we won the game," Castillo said.
Rays starter Zack Littell, a Mariners draft pick in 2013, allowed just the one run on five hits over eight innings. He walked one, struck out four and retired 19 of the final 20 batters he faced.
Mariners reliever Isaiah Campbell, coming out of the bullpen in a rare high-leverage opportunity for him, was dominant in the seventh inning. He worked around a Josh Rojas error to strike out the side on 15 pitches.
Matt Brash worked a perfect eighth inning.
Brash and Muñoz pitched for a third consecutive day. Neither had done that before in their career.
The AL reliever of the month in August, Muñoz struggled in his first three September appearances, allowing one run in each outing over the past week.
It was a mild surprise to see him warming up in the bullpen in the top of the ninth inning, after he's pitched the previous two days in Cincinnati. Coaches had asked him before the game Thursday if he was available again.
"I said, 'Yes, of course,'" Muñoz said.
Muñoz got off to an inauspicious start in the ninth when he hit Luke Raley in the leg with a slider on an 0-1 pitch.
But catcher Cal Raleigh quickly erased Raley on the bases with a perfect throw to second for a 2-6 caught stealing.
"That was pretty cool," Raleigh said. "It's been a while since I've done that (in the ninth inning)."
Earlier in the game, Raleigh threw out Josh Lowe at second base. That snapped Lowe's streak of 23 consecutive stolen bases, the longest streak in the AL.
Of the nine errors Raleigh has committed this season, eight have come on throws. And in recent weeks he's worked on cleaning up his receiving-and-throw mechanics. The improvement has been drastic. Earlier this week, he threw out two runners in a game against the Reds, the team that leads MLB in steals.
(It should be noted that Mariners pitchers, too, have tried to get better at holding runners on base. Many stolen bases are a result of a pitcher's slow delivery to the plate, not necessarily the catcher's throw.)
"Those are big plays (from Raleigh)," Servais said. "People don't realize how hard that is to do."
After issuing a walk and giving up a stolen base, Muñoz struck out pinch hitter Harold Ramirez swinging through a slider off the plate to end it, stranding the tying run at second.
That Muñoz got the swing-and-miss with the slider was particularly important, given his wavering confidence in that pitch lately.
"That tells me that I am going in a good direction (and that) I am working in the right thing right now," he said. "And I feel it's going to continue getting better every time."
It's clear the Mariners are going to continue to ride Muñoz in the biggest spots late in games.
"We're going to be in a lot more games like this here in September and hopefully into October," Servais said. "And we're going to need (Muñoz). You're not going to have your 'A' game every day, but you've still got to work through it. And he did."
