What is an ace worth? Tonight Luis Castillo decided to demonstrate that to a crowd of 38,804 at T-Mobile Park, showing why, exactly, the Mariners gave up a significant chunk of their farm to retain the services of the 29-year-old pitcher. Facing a Yankees lineup that, while Rizzo-less, still contains one of the league’s most fearsome power hitters in Aaron Judge, Castillo shut the Yankees down completely over eight innings of work.
The Yankees’ strategy was to swing early and often at Castillo’s stuff, trying to get to him on the heater before he had a chance to execute his secondary pitches against them.