By BOB CONDOTTA The Seattle Times
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CHICAGO — With his team coming off a three-game sweep of one of the San Diego Padres, one of the best teams in baseball, Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson promised there would be no let down as Seattle prepared Monday to play one of the worst, the Chicago White Sox.

“I don’t think there’s any complacency,’’ Wilson said when he met with the media before the game. “This is the major leagues and every game presents challenges of its own, and our guys, they will prepare the way they prepare and get ready to play a major league game.’’

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The Mariners ended up doing just that with a 5-1 win over the White Sox, punctuated by the second grand slam of Julio Rodriguez’s career and a stellar pitching performance by Luis Castillo, even if there were times it may not have felt much like a major league game.

Only 10,380 were listed as attending on a cold (49 degrees at first pitch) and blustery (14-mile an hour winds) on the South Side.

They had little to cheer about until the ninth inning when the White Sox loaded the bases with one out off Troy Taylor and then got a hit with two outs to avoid the shutout.

In the lone negative of the night for the Mariners, Seattle used closer Andres Munoz.

He then struck out Michael A. Taylor to get his 15th save and end the game in a tidy 2 hours and 28 minutes.

Early on, the players on each side also appeared ready to get there game over with — the first five innings took 1:07 — and there was just one combined run through seven innings.

It was Seattle that had that one run, coming on three straight hits with two outs in the third.

The Mariners, though, turned it into a breather in the eighth thanks to a little bit of small ball and then one big swing from Rodriguez.

The Mariners loaded the bases with one out with two singles sandwiching a walk.

That brought up Rodriguez to face White Sox reliever Cam Booser.

Typifying the way the night went, Rodriguez wasted little time, hitting the first pitch from Booser — an 88mph cutter — just over the wall in left to make it 5-0.

The other grand slam for Rodriguez came on July 15, 2022 at Texas off Jose Leclerc, also in the eighth inning.

That was all the breathing room Seattle needed to win its fourth in a row to begin this 10-game road trip after having gone 1-5 on its most recent homestand.

The Mariners improved to 27-19 to again move eight games over .500, tied for their best of the season, and guaranteed they would stay 2.5 games ahead of the American League West.

Seattle also improved to 14-8 on the road, the best record by percentage away from home in the Major Leagues.

The White Sox, meanwhile, fell to 14-34, the same pace after 48 games as they had a year ago when they finished with a franchise-record 121 losses.

There was at least one highlight for the home team, though, as the White Sox unveiled a graphic installation near Section 140 honoring Pope Leo XIV, who famously attended Game 1 of the 2005 World Series — which Chicago won over Houston.

The White Sox got a runner on base in each of the first three innings, each time with one or no outs.

But each time Castillo got out of it as Mariner pitching continued to be stingy with runners in scoring position.

The Padres were 0 for 18 with runners in scoring position in Seattle’s three-game sweep and the White Sox were 0 for 4.

Castillo then found a groove, retiring the side in order in his last four innings as he walked none and struck out five in seven innings, tying his longest outing of the season.

Castillo’s last of 94 pitches turned into the defensive gem of the night for the Mariners when Chicago’s Andrew Vaughn scorched a liner to left field with two outs.

Seattle’s Randy Arozarena dove with the ball appearing to move just slightly as he hit the turf. But Arozarena rolled over and controlled it for what was ruled as an out.

Chicago challenged but the call was upheld, meaning Castillo retired the last 14 batters he faced.

Collin Snider pitched a scoreless eighth before Taylor came on and struggled with his control, walking two and giving up two hits, bringing on Munoz.

Seattle scored its first run in the third inning with three straight singles with two outs.

Martin retired the first eight Mariners before Ben Williamson for Seattle’s first hit on a slow roller that second baseman Josh Rojas, a former Mariner, couldn’t get to in time to handle cleanly.

Crawford then fisted one into left, putting runners on first and second.

Polanco followed with a drive to right that scored Williamson, with Crawford just beating a throw to third to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Game 2 of the three-game series is set for Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. PDT.