MINNEAPOLIS ¨C In a big-time pitchers¡¯ duel, it often comes down to who blinks first. Luis Castillo was as locked in as he¡¯s been all season against the Twins on Monday, but it didn¡¯t take much to spoil his night as the Twins pulled out a 3-1 victory.

¡°He¡¯s a top of the rotation starter and he had all his pitches working today,¡± Mariners manager Scott Servais said of Castillo. ¡°They were just able to put a rally together against him late in the ballgame. It was one of those games where it was going to come down to that -- who gets a big hit, who can put it together.¡±

Castillo set the tone early, retiring the first 12 Twins in order. Four were by strikeout. The contact was soft. The frustration was evident on the faces of Twins batters. Then back-to-back doubles by Max Kepler and Carlos Correa leading off the fifth gave the Twins not only their first base runners but their first run.

Meanwhile, rookie Simeon Woods Richardson was matching Castillo nearly pitch for pitch. He struck out the first four Mariners and eight of the first 10 batters he faced. Over six scoreless frames, all Seattle could manage against Woods Richardson was Mitch Garver¡¯s single in the third and a walk to Cal Raleigh in the fifth.

¡°Their starter was right on point,¡± Servais said. ¡°We had a good idea of what he was going to do going into the game. He just executed and we did not.¡±

The Mariners rallied to tie the score in the seventh as reliever Griffin Jax gave up singles to Jorge Polanco and Mitch Haniger, then walked Raleigh to load the bases with nobody out. After Ty France struck out, Garver hit a sacrifice fly to center field, but Luke Raley whiffed to end the threat.

¡°Any time you have the bases loaded and nobody out and you only come up with one run, you¡¯re a little disappointed,¡± Servais said. ¡°That was kind of our shot in the ballgame. And the game felt that way early on. There wasn¡¯t much going on the first three-four innings. You knew it was going to come down to one inning that you¡¯re going to have to put a crooked number up there and we weren¡¯t able to do it.¡±

The Twins found themselves in a similar situation in the bottom of the seventh and they got the crooked number they needed. Castillo walked Kepler to start the inning, and Correa followed with his second double, a line drive down the left-field line. The Twins ended up plating two runs on a sacrifice fly and a two-out single to provide the game¡¯s final margin.

Castillo was asked if the leadoff walk frustrated him after his teammates had just come back to tie the score.

¡°Sometimes the game is good to you and sometimes it¡¯s bad for you but stuff like that, I try not to let it get me out of focus or anything,¡± Castillo said through an interpreter. ¡°Credit to Correa, who was able to hit that double out there.¡±

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was as impressed with Castillo as he was with Correa¡¯s two doubles against the Mariners' ace.

¡°Castillo, he¡¯s one of the better pitchers you¡¯re going to find in the game, especially against right-handed hitters,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°The stuff is so good, it¡¯s not like you can sit up there and you have all these options as far as the way you¡¯re going to attack Luis Castillo. You¡¯re going to have to battle your butt off at the plate, be looking for the right pitch in the right spot, get it, and then hammer it and not miss it. It¡¯s a challenge, and [Correa] was on it.¡±

Castillo suffered his first loss since April 14 and just missed a chance to even his record after dropping his first four decisions. But he said he¡¯s not going to let it be a setback in his return to form.

¡°I think most important to me is that I continue battling and going out there,¡± he said. ¡°I hope that God gives me the strength and health to just keep going out there and doing my job every time I go out on the mound, and just be able to give 100 percent.¡±