Oakland Athletics’ starting pitcher JP Sears and four relievers held Seattle to one hit.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Luis Castillo got chased in the fifth inning and the contending Seattle Mariners managed just one hit, falling to the Oakland Athletics 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Carlos Santana’s infield single in the second inning was all the Mariners could muster at the plate against JP Sears and four relievers.The Mariners have a magic number of 11 to reach the playoffs for the first time since their 116-win season of 2001. But Seattle again struggled to beat the last-place A’s in Oakland, where the Mariners lost two of three at the Coliseum from Aug. 19-21.
Castillo is 3-2 in nine starts since being acquired from Cincinnati at the trade deadline. He matched his shortest outing of the season at 4 2/3 innings. The All-Star right-hander was tagged for four runs on six hits, struck out four and walked two. Tony Kemp’s three-run homer highlighted a four-run fifth — he connected for his seventh homer, then Vimael Machin and Sean Murphy doubled.
Sam Haggerty drew a bases-loaded walk from Sears in the second for the Mariners’ lone run. Sears allowed one hit in five innings and struck out seven.Ty France went 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts as designated hitter for Seattle after taking a pitch in the foot during Monday’s 9-1 win over the Angels in Anaheim.