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USATSI

Luis Castillo, the Seattle Mariners' new right-hander and prized trade deadline acquisition, dazzled in his home debut on Tuesday night against the New York Yankees in a potential playoff preview that remained scoreless through 12 1/2 innings. The Mariners would prevail by a 1-0 final (box score) in the bottom of the 13th. This marked the first game since 2019 that a game was scoreless through 12 frames.

Castillo stymied the Yankees offense, completing eight shutout innings while permitting only three hits and two walks. He struck out seven batters and induced a game-leading 20 swings and misses -- 12 of which were coerced against his fastball variations. (Oddly, only two whiffs were recorded with his signature changeup.)

The Yankees, for their part, received a strong performance from their ace, Gerrit Cole, who worked seven innings and allowed four hits and no walks. He struck out eight batters and threw 109 pitches, or one fewer than Castillo did.

Neither side was able to scratch across a run through the first 12 frames. The Yankees, for their part, made a number of base-running errors in extra innings, squandering the opportunities afforded to them with the automatic runner. The Mariners, meanwhile, notably failed to cash in on a bases-loaded situation in the 12th, with Eugenio Suárez striking out against Lou Trivino before breaking his bat over his knee in frustration.

The Yankees would strand the bases loaded in the top of the 13th, but the Mariners would capitalize in the bottom half of the inning. Catcher Luis Torrens drove a single through the right side of the infield to plate the game's only run.

Castillo made his Mariners team debut on August 3, days after the trade was finalized. That start was also against the Yankees. He surrendered three runs on five hits that night. Oddly, Tuesday night's game marked the third time in four starts that Castillo has faced the Yankees. He also threw seven innings of one-run ball against them on July 14.

The Mariners acquired Castillo from the Cincinnati Reds ahead of the trade deadline. Seattle parted with infield prospects Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo, as well as right-handed pitchers Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore. Tuesday's start lowered his seasonal ERA to 2.71.