SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners suffered one of their most disappointing results of the season in a 2-1 loss against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

The Mariners were limited to just one hit against the White Sox and their only run came in the bottom of the first inning.

Despite Seattle's paltry performance at the plate, a significant chunk of the attention after the game was paid to the Mariners' handling of the pitching staff.

Seattle opted for a "piggyback" approach with starting pitchers Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo on Tuesday, with Miller getting the start and Castillo coming in for multiple innings of relief.

Left-handed reliever Jose A. Ferrer was the pivot reliever between the two starters and struck out Chicago first baseman Munetaka Murakami for the final out of the sixth inning.

For most of the game, the experiment appeared to work.

Miller, who was also making his second outing since being activated off the injured list May 13, struck out seven, walked one and allowed one hit in 5.2 innings pitched.

Castillo, who took over in the seventh, pitched two scoreless innings and went out for the ninth attempting to go for a third and clinch a 1-0 win for the Mariners.

Instead, Castillo walked Murakami and hit infielder Miguel Vargas with a pitch. After striking out Colson Montgomery, Castillo was pulled and two-time All-Star closer Andres Munoz took the mound.

Then the experiment fell apart.

Munoz surrendered back-to-back RBI singles which resulted in the eventual final of 2-1.

"We got to throw the ball whenever they tell us to throw it," Miller said in a postgame interview Tuesday. "Whether that's 100 pitches or 70 or 50 for (Castillo), we're trying to win games. All of us. (Castillo's) made 150 starts in his career, or more, and he's been really good at it. It's a tough situation. We have six guys that are really good starters. So somebody's got to do something and at the end of the day, we want to win. However we need to do that, we'll do it."

Tuesday was a learning process for all parties involved. But both parties tried their best to approach the game against the White Sox like it was any other start.

Castillo prepared the same way he has throughout his 10-year major league career but took the mound for his first relief appearance with a different mindset.

"A reliever, you got to come in with a different mentality," Castillo said after the game via interpreter Freddy Llanos. "Coming in, trying to kind of put a pause or a break (on things). ... I came in with the mentality of a reliever and tried to do my job."

As for what the next steps are in the "piggybacking" experiment, that's still uncertain.

Despite Miller's near-quality start and the way the game ended for Castillo, it's still not determined whether the former or the latter will get the nod their next turn in the rotation. Neither pitcher was informed who will start the next time up by the end of the game.

Tuesday was a combination of good and bad. With no long-term questions answered regarding who will be the consistent starter between the two and no real certainty how long the piggybacking situation will last, the situation is no more clearer now than it was when the game began.

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