Mariners held to 1 hit, Castillo tagged in 4-1 loss to A’s

By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Baseball Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Luis Castillo got chased in the fifth inning and the contending Seattle Mariners managed just one hit, falling to the Oakland Athletics 4-1. Carlos Santana’s infield single in the second inning was all the Mariners could muster at the plate against JP Sears and four relievers. Seattle remained one-half game behind Tampa Bay for the third and final AL wild-card spot. 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.