Luis Castillo to make Mariners debut Wednesday at Yankees

HOUSTON (AP) — All-Star Luis Castillo will make his debut for the Seattle Mariners when he starts against the New York Yankees on Wednesday.

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The Mariners acquired the right-hander from Cincinnati on Friday, hoping to bolster their rotation as they chase their first playoff berth since 2001. Their postseason drought is the longest in the four major North American professional sports.

At 55-48, Seattle is currently 12 games behind Houston in the AL West standings, but is in second place for one of three wild card playoff spots. Manager Scott Servais said Sunday that Castillo will start the series finale in New York.

Perhaps the top starter on this year’s trade market, Castillo joins a rotation with Logan Gilbert, Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen.

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Castillo’s last start for the Reds came last Wednesday. The 29-year-old was 4-4 with a 2.86 ERA for last-place Cincinnati this season. He has 90 strikeouts and just 28 walks in 85 innings.

By the time of Wednesday’s start, Castillo will be just under three weeks removed from a dominant start at Yankee Stadium when he limited New York to a run on two hits, four walks and a hit batsmen over seven innings, striking out eight in a Reds win on July 14.

His strong performance comes a year after he had a career-worst 8-16 record, where his losses were the most in the National League, and had a 3.98 ERA.

The Reds got infielders Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo, and right-handers Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore in the trade. Marte was the Mariners’ top-rated prospect, Arroyo was third and Stoudt fifth.

SeattleSports.com staff contributed to this report.

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