Vince Velasquez leaves with elbow discomfort, as Pirates strike out in Seattle shutout

Vince Velasquez’s return to the starting rotation for the Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t last long, as the right-hander pitched only two innings against the Seattle Mariners before being removed.

The Pirates later announced that Velasquez left the game with right elbow discomfort, the same issue that kept him out since leaving after the third inning at Tampa Bay on May 4.

The Seattle Mariners hammered Velasquez for four runs on seven hits and got a dominant outing from Luis Castillo, who had a season-best 10 strikeouts in a 5-0 win Saturday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

“It sucks any time you get injured,” Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “He had just come back and was feeling good. I could see his velo was down a little bit, so I didn’t know if it was just getting back into it — he’s been away a little bit — but I hope it’s nothing too serious.”

After getting 15 hits, including seven home runs, in Friday’s 11-6 win over Seattle, the Pirates (26-25) had only two hits and finished with a season-high 17 strikeouts on Saturday to remain a half-game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (27-24) in the NL Central standings.

“It’s baseball: Some days you’re going to get a lot of hits and home runs. Some days you’re not,” Hayes said. “Some days you’re going to run into good pitching. He had good stuff. I feel like he was good on both sides of the plate. He kind of got us to chase. I feel like he got some pitches to go his way, too.”

The Pirates activated Velasquez from the 15-day injured list on Saturday. To make room on the active roster, right-handed reliever Duane Underwood Jr. was designated for assignment.

Velasquez, who threw 34 of his 53 pitches for strikes, bumped Roansy Contreras from his scheduled start and added more questions than answers to the starting rotation. Shelton said rookie right-hander Luis Ortiz will start Sunday in the series finale, skipping a Contreras start until the Pirates have a better idea of Velasquez’s health.

The Mariners got five hits off Velasquez in the first inning, including three doubles.

J.P. Crawford hit a leadoff double to right, then scored on a double down the left field line by Ty France for a 1-0 lead. Eugenio Suarez’s two-out single drove in France to make it 2-0, and Teoscar Hernandez doubled to score Suarez for a 3-0 Mariners lead.

Castillo held the Pirates to one hit in six shutout innings, a leadoff double by Tucupita Marcano. Castillo allowed only one other runner to reach scoring position. With two outs in the second, Castillo hit Ji Hwan Bae on the left thigh with a pitch. Bae stole second base and advanced to third on an errant throw by catcher Cal Raleigh but was stranded when Josh Palacios popped up to second.

Castillo threw 64 of his 99 pitches for strikes and got 24 whiffs against the Pirates, including a dozen with his four-seam fastball, but it was his changeup that gave them trouble.

“The changeup is elite, and he had it,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We’ve seen him when he pitched for the Reds in our division and seen him pitch good, but I think today’s the best changeup that he had. We ran his pitch count up even though we didn’t do anything off him. We just couldn’t get anything going because he was really good.”

Crawford singled in the bottom of the second and scored on a double by Julio Rodriguez to give the Mariners a 4-0 advantage. Velasquez shook his arm to loosen it, just like he had in the third inning at Tampa Bay.

“Just watching him at the end of the second, it just didn’t look like he was comfortable,” Shelton said. “After having a conversation with him, it didn’t feel like he was in the best spot, so I decided to take him out.”

The Pirates turned to their bullpen, and lefties Jose Hernandez and Rob Zastryzny combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings. The Mariners took advantage of an error and an overturned call for their other run.

Rodriguez hit a leadoff single off Dauri Moreta, stole second base and advanced to third on catcher Jason Delay’s throwing error and then scored on a challenge to increase their lead to 5-0 in the seventh.

Rodriguez broke for home on a fly out to center by Suarez, but was called out by home plate umpire Ryan Blakney on Jack Suwinski’s throw to Delay. The Mariners challenged the call, which was overturned after a video review showed Rodriguez sliding under Delay.

The Pirates struck out in nine of their final 15 plate appearances, with their final three batters looking at called third strikes against Justin Topa in the ninth inning after Connor Joe drew a leadoff walk.

“It should be the same for everyone,” said Hayes, who struck out three times, including the final out. “Everyone is up there trying to do the same thing. I don’t feel like anyone has to earn it. The strike zone is the strike zone. I feel like they need to be better back there.”