Kelenic, Julio, Castillo lead Mariners to 11-2 rout over A’s

SEATTLE (AP) — Jarred Kelenic hit his 10th homer of the season and Luis Castillo pitched six scoreless innings as the Seattle Mariners routed the Oakland Athletics 11-2 on Monday night.

Seattle Mariners 11, Oakland Athletics 2: Box score

Kelenic also singled twice and had three RBIs. Jose Caballero launched a three-run homer and Julio Rodríguez had three hits, including two doubles, and scored three times as the Mariners matched a season high for runs.

Three-hit night for Julio 😎 pic.twitter.com/B8HFeFDbEw

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 23, 2023

“Hitting is really contagious, I feel like. I felt like we were able to do it multiple innings this game. Sometimes I think we do it one or two innings in a game,” Kelenic said. “Today I think you saw four, five, six innings of quality, hitting the ball really well.”

Castillo (3-2) snapped a two-start losing streak and surpassed 1,000 strikeouts for his career. The right-hander had eight strikeouts and two walks against Oakland (10-39), which has lost five in a row and eight of nine.

Castillo got his 1,000th strikeout against Shea Langeliers to open the fifth inning. When the announcement was made on the scoreboard, the crowd gave Castillo an extended standing ovation.

“It wasn’t a big reaction from me, but I saw the fans give me the ovation,” Castillo said. “I just want to thank them for standing up and cheering for me when that happened. It was a special moment.”

For the record books 💪 pic.twitter.com/4jwJiA6D7s

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 23, 2023

It was the first win for Castillo since April 16. He allowed seven runs and six hits in five innings last time out against Boston.

“It’s kind of been a struggle for him, but tonight he was super aggressive and he had all his pitches working,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “I was hoping to maybe get seven innings out of him, but we’ll take six zeros up there anytime. Great outing by him.”

The Athletics loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Castillo finished his night by getting Jace Peterson to ground out.

“We had a chance there in the sixth with Jace up and the bases loaded to get back in the game,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. “He executed a good changeup and got the groundout.”

Seattle led from the start, with Kelenic hitting a two-run homer in the first inning off Kyle Muller (1-4). The ball traveled 455 feet to the seats in right-center.

4️⃣5️⃣5️⃣ feet for @jarredkelenic! pic.twitter.com/s9spYj1rti

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 23, 2023

Caballero followed with a three-run shot in the second to give the Mariners a quick 5-0 lead.

CABBY CRUSH pic.twitter.com/l9pyLPQlGB

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 23, 2023

José Caballero keeps playing like he’s Mariners’ answer at 2B

Kelenic drove in another run with a single in the fifth. The Mariners scored a pair in the sixth and extended the lead with three runs in the eighth, including a two-run single by Eugenio Suárez.

The A’s avoided being shut out as Brent Rooker and Seth Brown had run-scoring groundouts in the eighth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: Brown was reinstated from the injured list and INF Jordan Diaz was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. Brown hit .200 with one home run and two RBIs in eight games before going on the IL on April 10 with a strained left oblique.

Mariners: INF Dylan Moore, who hasn’t played this year due to a core injury, will continue his rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma after three games with Class A Everett. There’s a chance he could be activated during the Mariners’ 10-game homestand. … C Cal Raleigh has been dealing with neck issues and had an MRI on Monday morning. The test showed no structural issues, and Raleigh was in the starting lineup against Oakland.

UP NEXT

Athletics RHP Luis Medina (0-2, 6.88 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season Tuesday night. He’s allowed three runs over six innings in each of his last two.

Mariners LHP Marco Gonzalez (3-1, 6.10) is looking to rebound after giving up eight runs in 1 2/3 innings at Boston in his last start.

Seattle Mariners Injury Updates: 3 nearing returns; McGee needs surgery