5/3/26 — Royals vs Mariners
A day ago, Emerson Hancock had an amazing 14K game against the Royals, allowing only one run. The Mariners unfortunately still lost. Hoping to avoid a sweep against the Royals, Louis Castillo took the mound. He had struggled so far this season, but I kept trying to convince myself this might finally be the Castillo game where the season steadied a little. The game started off strong with two strikeouts in the first inning.
Cal was out with soreness, though at the time it still felt temporary. Weeks later he’d finally hit the IL after trying to play through it. We got to see Johnny Pereda’s MLB debut, which I actually found promising. He cut down a runner trying to steal second.
Things started to go sideways in the 4th with a bases loaded no-out jam. Castillo walks in a run, then gives up two more runs with two balls put in play. Julio almost saved a run on a sac fly. From our vantage point in center field, I could practically see straight down the line of his throw to the catcher as the ball skipped across the dirt three times. Ruled out initially but overturned.
With our bullpen thin with injuries, we also saw Nick Davila’s first career strikeout. I honestly don’t know much else about this guy, but he has a 0.0 ERA still in 6.1 innings. It’s a funny stat to hold onto about a player.
We saw four Mariners hits on that hot, balmy early May afternoon. To help pass the time, a couple different fans near us in the JRod squad would talk to KC centerfielder Kyle Isbel, simply calling him by his number, 28. Just dumb playful banter. “Get ready, 28.” “You got lucky that time, 28.”
This was maybe our third time in the JRod squad this season, and Leo has sharpened his Julio attention-getting routine every top of the inning. Julio would throw to Raley in right field, and then would toss two balls into the crowd. Leo would stand on his seat to get a higher vantage point and wave his glove to Julio. Sometimes I’d point to Leo with both hands; sometimes we’d do the “no fly zone” gesture; I’ve told Julio we love him many times. Leo would ask me sometimes if I thought Julio remembers us from past games. I wasn’t sure.
This time we were front row near the aisle, about as close to center field as possible. I’d seen Julio toss balls down there before, and it didn’t always go smoothly. Sometimes fans fumbled them into that awkward dead space between the stands and the warning track. Occasionally Julio would give a funny grin and gesture to fans I can only assume he thought would make the catch.
This time he entrusted us. The ball traveled more to my left side, so I moved my glove a couple feet over the railing in front of us to make the catch easier. I tell myself that if it had been thrown right to Leo, I let him make the catch. I almost believe it too. I take the ball out of my glove and hand it to Leo with a smile; he seemed happy I got the job done. A familiar sounding voice who may have been trying to distract Isbel earlier said, “Good Catch, Dad!”
Final: Royals 4, Mariners 1
Seats: Section 103, row 23 (JRod squad front row)
Memory: Fun crowd banter, career debuts and firsts, catching a Julio toss