 threw three innings before Yency Almonte pitched a perfect eighth and Phillip Diehl closed out the ninth.Castellani said Diehl was his throwing partner through baseball's shutdown and found it fitting the lefty closed out his first start.''Huge relief getting it over with. I still can't believe it's real right now,'' Castellani said. ''First off, just super happy we won. I mean, I couldn't have pictured it any better in my head.'' Blackmon doubled twice, the second hitting the top of the wall in right field and barely missing a grand slam. Blackmon settled for a bases-clearing double to give Colorado a 3-0 lead. Blackmon has 25 hits in 14 games and raised his batting average to .446.''He might hit .400 or .500 this year,'' Seattle manager Scott Servais said. ''He's a really tough out. Hangs in on lefties, very aggressive when he gets his pitch in his zone and he's a tough guy to put away.'' Daniel Murphy and Trevor Story also had RBI singles for Colorado.Castellani relied heavily on his fastball and spotted a good changeup and breaking pitches when needed.Castellani's perfect streak ended when he hit Kyle Seager leading off the fifth. Daniel Vogelbach walked and Colorado manager Bud Black didn't hesitate pulling Castellani. Hoffman got out of the only jam the Rockies faced with a double play and grounder back to the mound.''In the clubhouse just getting the beer shower was just awesome, all of it,'' Castellani said. ''I'm never going to forget it.'' Seattle's Nick Margevicius threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his first start since sliding into the Mariners rotation. Margevicius was pulled after 61 pitches, giving way to Seattle's shaky bullpen.Anthony Misiewicz (0-1) gave up two runs in one inning.MAKE IT A DOZENBlackmon extended his hitting streak to 12 games, lining a double to cap a 10-pitch at-bat in the first inning. Blackmon was hitless in his first nine at-bats of the season. Since then, he's 25 of 47, a .532 average.CROSSED UPSeattle C Austin Nola was out of the lineup on Saturday after getting crossed up on a pitch from Yohan Ramirez late in Friday's loss that hit him on the wrist. X-rays were negative, but manager Scott Servais said the wrist was swollen. The hope is Nola can return to the lineup on Sunday. Nola had a homer and double prior to getting hit.TRAINER'S ROOMMariners: RHP Kendall Graveman will see a specialist early next week to determine what procedure to have after suffering a neck strain in his last start. Servais said whatever the treatment it will be a significant amount of time that Graveman is out of the rotation.UP NEXTRockies: RHP German Marquez (2-1, 1.54) makes his fourth start and third against an AL west team. Marquez has allowed three earned runs in 13 1/3 innings over his past two starts, both victories.Mariners: LHP Justus Sheffield (0-2, 9.39) makes his third start. Sheffield has not made it through five innings in either of his starts. Sheffield allowed just four hits but gave up four runs in his last start against Oakland.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Margevicius to make first start for Mariners vs. RockiesNick Margevicius had pitched in just one game above the Single-A level when, at age 22, he joined the San Diego Padres' rotation last season.A year and another organization later, he said he's more prepared for the task."I just handled it the best I could at the time," Margevicius said. "Looking back on it, maybe it was a little quick. Maybe I wasn't quite ready for some things." The left-hander will get another chance Saturday night when he's scheduled to make his first start for Seattle. The Mariners will host the Colorado Rockies in an interleague game."I'm pretty excited about it," Margevicius said. "I've always been a starter, but whatever I've got to do this year, we're just going with it. This is a weird year, and I'm willing to do whatever we've got to do to help us win." Margevicius was 2-6 with a 6.79 ERA for the Padres last year before being put on waivers. He was claimed by the Mariners in the offseason and started the abbreviated campaign in the bullpen, registering a 5.40 ERA in three appearances in relief, before an injury to Kendall Graveman opened a spot in Seattle's six-man rotation."Our analytical group grades out all our guys' pitches on a scale, and his stuff is really pointing north," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "It's getting better, the fastball, the quality of the breaking pitches. The thing I like about Marg is he's very calm and has a very professional approach. He's a pitch maker and knows how to execute pitches and sequence them together. It's not just stuff coming at you. Even though he's a young guy, he's got a pretty mature approach to how he's attacking hitters." Margevicius described his past year as a "wild ride." "From the time I got called up (with the Padres) to coming over to the Mariners, then the whole quarantine stuff," said the pitcher, who turned 24 in June. "But the thing I've learned the most is how to be adaptable. I think everyone is kind of learning that lesson and I think it really applies to the baseball field." Margevicius was 0-2 with a 16.55 ERA in three starts against the Rockies last season.Colorado was scheduled to send right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez to the mound, but he was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday with right biceps tendinitis.Instead, the Rockies will start right-hander Ryan Castellani, one of their top pitching prospects. He was recalled from their alternate training site and will make his major-league debut, manager Bud Black announced.Bone fragments in his elbow limited Castellani, a second-round draft pick as a high schooler in 2014, to 10 starts in Triple-A last season, but he impressed in the Arizona Fall League with a 2.16 ERA in five starts."He's had ups and downs in his career, but for a high school pitcher (coming into pro ball), a lot of times it takes time to fully get grounded and understand how to get outs," Black told The Denver Post. "For Ryan, a lot of it was delivery, finding the correct arm slot for him, and his mix of pitches. ... All those things have started to come together in the last year." The National League West-leading Rockies won the series opener 8-4 Friday as Garrett Hampson, Charlie Blackmon and Daniel Murphy hit home runs.--Field Level Media
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