"He’s a killer” - Mariners manager Scott Servais heaps huge praise as Luis Castillo pitches seven shutout innings in Braves win

Seattle Mariners edged past the Atlanta Braves 3-2 at the T-Mobile Park on Tuesday to seal a series win with the Braves unable to score any run against Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo.

After allowing a single hit to Marcell Ozuna in the fourth inning, Castillo retired the last 11 batters he faced. He recorded a 3.46 ERA while giving up three hits, striking out 7 hitters, with one walk achieving his third win of the 2024 season.

Talking to the media about his performance, Mariners manager Scott Servais said:

"He’s a killer. I mean, you have to take that attitude when you’re out there. When you get them 0-2, 1-2, I’m killing you, you’re done. And we just reminded him of that. That’s who he is, and when he does that and he has that mentality out there, he’s electric."

Castillo has won three consecutive games after a rough 0-4 start to the season. His exceptional performance has set a new record, with the Mariners starting pitching allowing two or fewer runs in 18 consecutive games.

"It is like historic starting pitching. We’re on that kind of run. You have guys doing it different, a little bit differently every night," Servais said.

The Seattle Mariners took the lead in the third inning with Jorge Polanco’s 2-run homer, his fourth of the season. Dylan Moore’s RBI double in the fourth extended their lead, which they maintained until the end to seal the win.

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais’ words helped Luis Castillo prepare mentally

In his first three games, Luis Castillo had a 6.89 ERA while giving up four runs in each of these games. However, the three-time All-Star successfully bounced back from his poor start to April.

Talking about his performance Castillo said that Scott Servais's words about him helped him to some extent. He said (via MLB.com):

“I remember (Servais) telling me out in Toronto that I'm a killer. And since then, I've just gone out with that mentality, and I think it's helped me.”

Mariners registered their sixth win in eight games courtesy of Luis Castillo's dominant showing from the mound and Servais' team will hope to sweep the Braves in the final game of the series on Wednesday.