Justin Verlander struck out eight, walked one and threw 96 pitches to help Houston gain a 1 1/2-game lead over Seattle for the final wild card in the American League.
. But Verlander got Julio Rodríguez out in front of a curveball and Seattle's young All-Star grounded into a double play to end the threat.
Verlander didn't allow another base runner until Rojas got him in the ninth. Rojas scored on Rodríguez's sacrifice fly, ending the shutout. The Mariners had won 10 straight games started by Castillo, but he suffered his first loss since July 14. Castillo threw six innings allowing eight hits, five runs and struck out eight.
Castillo was one strike away from getting out of the inning but Mauricio Dubón lined a 2-2 fastball into center field for a hit to score José Abreu. Martín Maldonado followed with an RBI single andInformation from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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