Castillo strong as Mariners shut out Jays in Wild Card opener

TORONTO — A rough opening inning proved costly for ace Alek Manoah and the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

The way Seattle starter Luis Castillo was pitching, there was no room for error.

The Mariners hushed a boisterous sellout crowd at Rogers Centre with a three-run first inning en route to a 4-0 victory in the opener of the best-of-three wild-card series.

Seattle refused to let Toronto get back in the game and now the Blue Jays are a loss away from post-season elimination.

"They beat me on my mistakes," said Manoah, who lasted 5 2/3 innings.

Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer in the first inning after Eugenio Suarez drove in leadoff hitter Julio Rodriguez with an RBI double. Seattle added an insurance run in the fifth.

Castillo rolled through 7 1/3 frames, giving up six singles and striking out five without issuing a walk.

"We managed our hits and at-bats were decent and (we) couldn't get the big hit when we got guys on base," said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. "His stuff was good. You have to give him credit."

Seattle reliever Andres Munoz recorded the last five outs. Suarez had two hits for the Mariners and Rodriguez scored twice.

George Springer and Matt Chapman had two hits apiece for Toronto. The Blue Jays put two runners on base in the third inning and did it again in the fifth but couldn't bring a run home.

"Those are big spots," Schneider said. "When you're facing a pitcher like that, when you get traffic on the bases, you want to come through with a big hit.

"It's tough to do against a guy like that and really tough with two outs. So you just take that for what it is today and you move on."

Manoah, who made his first career post-season start, matched a season high by allowing four earned runs.

Schneider later