SEATTLE — Noah Davis had the kind of first major league start that are in most players’ dreams. 

It was overshadowed, though, by the kind of start players have nightmares about.  

Davis, taking the place of the injured Germán Márquez, pitched five shutout innings for the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. He retired the first seven batters and gave up only three hits. At the same time, the Mariners’ Luis Castillo was making headlines. He had a perfect game through six innings until Jurickson Profar broke it up with a single in the seventh. Castillo, an early Cy Young Award candidate, stumped the Rockies for most of the day with his lively fastball and strong changeup.

Castillo pitched seven innings, giving up just two hits as Seattle went on to beat Colorado 1-0 to sweep the series. 

“This guy is really good,” manager Bud Black said. “Early on it was coming out really good.”

While Castillo flirted with history, Davis held his own against an electric Mariners’ team. He made his debut in the last game of the 2022 season as a reliever. But this chance to be a major league starter was the moment he’s been working toward. He tried to take in as much as he could, even starting his warmup early so he could take a moment to look around the stadium. 

Davis was locked in from the start. He struck out Julio Rodríguez to begin his outing, quickly quieting the ‘Julio’ chants raging throughout T-Mobile Park. Then he got Ty France to ground out and Eugenio Suárez looking. Davis continued to roll until the third, when he gave up his first two hits — back-to-back hits to Kolten Wong and J.P. Crawford, the Mariners eighth and ninth hitters. Davis was not efficient, but he got himself out of trouble in the third, fourth and fifth innings with either a double play or strikeout. 

Davis’ day ended after reaching 95 pitches. He allowed just three hits in five innings, walking three and striking out five. 

“I felt like I was locked in from the beginning,” he said. “Once I got through the first inning I felt like I was in the game, like I could go out there and do my thing.”

He knows he needs to be more efficient if he’s going to be able to stick at the major league level. And he’ll likely get at least one more chance to start as Márquez can’t be activated until later this month at the earliest. Davis believes he already has the tools to fix that. 

His pitch count was driven up early as he fell behind in counts and knows he needs to clean things up. The important thing, though, was that he stayed calm and kept his emotions in check. In previous years, he said, he would try to do too much, digging himself deeper into a hole. 

“I feel like I’ve mentally been able to keep myself in control and make pitches when I need to,” Davis said. “I’m just trusting the process and keeping the same mentality regardless of the situation.”

Rockies starting pitcher Noah Davis reacts after a double play to end the third inning against the Mariners on Sunday in Seattle.

The Associated Press