Chicago White Sox starter Davis Martin received a well-deserved pat on the back from manager Will Venable after a dazzling outing pitching into the eighth inning Monday.
Unfortunately for Martin and the Sox, Seattle Mariners starter Luis Castillo was also locked in.
Castillo allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings as the Mariners defeated the White Sox 5-1 in front of 10,380 at Rate Field.
“We hit some balls hard, but nothing to show for it,” Venable said. “Had that one opportunity with (Austin) Slater (batting in the second inning) with a runner at third base and less than two outs (a strikeout and a Josh Rojas flyout to center followed). Otherwise, just not a lot of opportunities.
“(Castillo) had a really good fastball tonight. Was attacking the zone, just like Davis was. We just couldn’t really get a lot of good swings off after a couple of hard-hit balls early, weren’t able to put the ball in play hard.”
Castillo surrendered a single to Matt Thaiss in the first inning, a double to Joshua Palacios in the second and a one-out single to Chase Meidroth in the third. Castillo then retired the final 14 batters he faced.
“He’s just been doing it for so long and he’s so good,” Thaiss said. “He just knows how to pitch. Him and (catcher Cal Raleigh) are dangerous together because they know the game well. He’s one of the best.”
Meidroth walked leading off the ninth against reliever Troy Taylor, ending a streak of 17 straight Sox batters retired.
Photos: Chicago White Sox lose to the Seattle Mariners 5-1 on Monday at Rate Field
Thaiss walked and Luis Robert Jr. delivered a one-out single, loading the bases. Palacios popped out to shallow left field, but Andrew Vaughn drove in Meidroth with a single to bring Michael A. Taylor to the plate as the tying run.
Andrés Muñoz struck out Taylor to end the game, sending the Sox to their fifth consecutive loss. At 14-34, the Sox matched last year’s team for the worst 48-game start in franchise history.
Martin did all he could to keep the Sox in Monday’s game, allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk in a career-high 7 1/3 innings.
“We were throwing a lot of pitches for strikes and in a lot of locations,” Martin said. “Thaiss did a great job of moving around, making sure we were on the same page. He called a great game (behind the plate). I don’t think I shook (Thaiss off). Maybe two or three times. Just what happens when the catcher and pitcher are in sync.
“I emptied the tank in the seventh and kept trying to empty the tank in the eighth. Whatever we had left is just ripping it and trying to execute at a high clip. Just continue to execute and continue to do our job.”
It’s the second straight outing Martin has reached a career-high for innings. He went 6 2/3 innings on May 14 against the Cincinnati Reds, allowing one run on seven hits at Great American Ball Park.
He continued pounding the strike zone Monday.
“He attacked the zone,” Thaiss said. “That’s a good lineup over there. Had all five, six pitches of his working and really filled it up. To pitch that deep into the game is a great job.
“He’s got really good stuff. His pitches tunnel well, and it’s just making sure we use them the right way and making sure we get ahead of hitters so we can attack them. That’s what we did tonight.”
Martin surrendered a two-out RBI single to Jorge Polanco in the third, the third straight hit in the inning for the Mariners, for his only hiccup.
“Going into this series, you’ve got to know that Seattle’s strength is their pitching staff,” Martin said. “As a staff for us, you’ve got to buckle in and say you need to be almost as perfect as you can be and I wasn’t perfect tonight, giving up that one run in the third inning. That’s what happens when you face a good rotation like this.
“You know what’s at stake when you make a mistake. Going into the outing I knew I had to be pretty perfect and a couple hits and a mistake to Polanco in the third there. But yeah, Castillo did a great job tonight and it was a fun battle.”
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Martin was batter to batter in the eighth inning. He left after allowing a one-out single to Ben Williamson.
“Uncharted territory for (Martin), really good spot for (reliever) Cam (Booser) there,” Venable said. “Davis had done his job and it was just a good spot to turn it over to Cam.”
Booser walked J.P. Crawford and gave up a single to Mitch Garver, loading the bases. Julio Rodríguez provided the big blow, hitting his second career grand slam to give the Mariners a 5-0 lead.
The Sox forced the Mariners to go to their closer in the ninth, but came up short to fall to 20 games under .500 for the first time this season.
“You look at the ninth inning, there’s no morale boost needed,” Martin said. “Backs against the wall, 5-0, it’s really easy to just fold the tents and go home, call it a day. But guys battle, guys fight and that’s kind of what this team is made of.”
