The Seattle Mariners earned a big 6-1 victory against the Houston Astros on Friday night. Starting pitcher Luis Castillo struck out seven hitters across 6.2 scoreless innings. He also contained Astros star Jose Altuve, recording a big strikeout against him early in the contest with runners on base.

“That one strikeout was the key to kind of get out of that inning with some traffic out there. So I think just going out, being able to battle, get out of there was definitely key for here in this game,” Castillo said via an interpreter, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.

Castillo, 32, has pitched to a 3.21 ERA across 115 innings of work. The Mariners starting pitcher has also recorded 100 strikeouts in his 20 outings. He has been impressive. The Mariners need Castillo to continue to pitch at a high level.

Castillo was mentioned in trade rumors before the 2025 season. It is difficult to imagine Seattle moving on from the veteran right-handed pitcher at this point, however. Following Friday's win, the Mariners only trail the Astros by four games in the American League West standings. Not only is Seattle a serious division contender, but the Mariners are in prime position to at least make an American League Wild Card run.

The Mariners and Astros will finish their three-game set with two more games over the weekend. Houston is trying to make a statement, but Seattle is not going to back down. The Mariners' 6-1 win on Friday evening was a tremendous way to begin the series as they attempt to climb back in the division standings.

Seattle will host Houston on Saturday night at 8:40 PM EST in Game 2 of the series. Lance McCullers Jr. will get the ball for the Astros while Logan Evans will try to lead the Mariners to a second consecutive victory against the division rival.

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