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Seattle Mariners

In masterful effort by both teams, Mariners down Yankees in 13th

By Ryan Divish Seattle Times

They stood.

Not just for the seventh-inning stretch or the much-deserved standing ovation for their starting pitcher’s effort or because a slick video created by the Mariners’ stellar game-production crew was showing on the JumboTron telling them to do so.

No, they stood because this game deserved it, because it was far too well-played to disrespect the final innings by remaining in their seats. Besides, the intensity on every pitch over those final innings was far too nerve-racking to sit down when all they wanted to do was jump, cheer or pace but not miss any little thing that might happen.

And so many damn things happened Tuesday night, particularly in the final two innings of regulation and the four additional innings it took to finish it: brilliant relief pitching, fantastic defensive plays, stupidity on the bases and so many at-bats that failed to score a runner in scoring position.

They stood even as the game grew to more than four hours in length because this is what you do in postseason games, or at least what they remember of the last postseason game or what they were told about it. And everything about this game had a postseason feel and everything about this team makes them believe then can return to the postseason again.

They stood, even though it’s something they weren’t conditioned or inclined to do in recent seasons past due failure but know that it should be done in the present. And as a large portion of the 38,804 in attendance stood in anticipation, they were finally rewarded by the unlikeliest of heroes in the 13th inning.

Luis Torrens, whose hitting struggles this season could have him out of the organization in the coming days, smacked a bases-loaded, pinch-hit single to right field to score Eugenio Suarez for a fantastic 1-0 marathon victory over the Yankees.

“Baseball’s not a boring game,” Servais said. “I’ve been at a lot of Major League games. I’ve been in a lot of Major Leagues games. And that was one of the best games I’ve ever seen.”

And as the Mariners unleashed a wild celebration near first base that was part ecstasy and part exhaustion with Torrens in the middle of it, the crowd still stood, applauding the effort of both teams in what was perhaps the most entertaining game of the Mariners or the MLB season.

It’s not often that can be said of a game where just one run was scored.

“The electricity in our ballpark tonight, the fans were incredible,” Servais said. “As we sit here in early August, we’ve got big things ahead of us.”

This is what the postseason be like, right?

“I don’t know because haven’t been to the postseason in a while,” Servais joked. “But I’m assuming it would be like this and maybe a little bit better. Our fan base is starved for this type of baseball. We have a team that can provide it. We’re fun to watch. We can be frustrating to watch. I get all that as a fan and what it means to hang on the edge of your seat for every pitch. That’s what baseball is about and our team embodies that.”

The much-anticipated pitchers duel between Gerrit Cole and Luis Castillo that failed to materialize five days ago at Yankee Stadium was given a redo in a rematch Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park.

This time, right-hander Gerrit Cole pitched like the ace the Yankees expected when they signed him to a nine-year, $340 million deal in 2020, avoiding the ire of the back pages of the New York tabloids for at least another week.

Meanwhile, right-hander Luis Castillo, who was acquired at the MLB trade deadline, made his first start in front of home fans — well perhaps 65 percent of the crowd were cheering for the Mariners — and continued his dominance of the Yankees.

In the battle of the starters, he edged Cole in terms of performance.

But neither allowed a run in their outings, they also didn’t figure into the decision.

After giving up three home runs and six runs to the Mariners in the first inning of his previous start, Cole pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. Using his fastball more than 70 percent of the time, he allowed just one runner to reach second base.

Castillo tossed eight shutout innings, allowing three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He is the eighth starting pitcher this season to throw eight shutout innings and take a no decision. He is the 19th pitcher in Mariners history to suffer such a fate in an outing. The most recent was Mike Leake against the A’s on August 15, 2008. It happened to Felix Hernandez three times in his career.

It was also the fourth time in T-Mobile Park history where both starters pitched seven-plus shutout inning with more than seven strikeouts each. The last time that occurred was June 28, 2012 with Hernandez and Boston’s Franklin Hernandez.

Castillo didn’t allow a runner to reach base until the eighth inning. With one out, Miguel Andujar blooped a single into shallow left-center and Aaron Hicks worked a walk. But after a brief meeting with pitching Pete Woodworth, Castillo came back to get Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground out each to end his outing.

With Aroldis Chapman pitching a scoreless eighth for the Yankees in relief of Cole, Andres Munoz was tasked to give his chance to win the game in the ninth inning against the top of the Yankees order.

The young reliever, who seems to get better with each outing, did that and more. He struck out D.J. LeMahieu, Aaron Judge and Andrew Benintendi.