Luis Castillo made quite an impression in his first start on the South Side.
After a forgettable White Sox debut in Boston, Castillo was absolutely fantastic in his first appearance in the black pinstripes at Rate Field, carving up the Reds for seven scoreless innings. The veteran righthander surrendered just one hit and two walks while striking out 10, needing just 104 pitches to get through seven frames.
And Castillo wasn’t simply getting outs — his stuff was filthy. He generated 22 whiffs on 45
swings, good for a ridiculous 49% whiff rate. His changeup was particularly lethal, producing eight whiffs on 10 swings, while his slider got five on seven. Castillo finished with a 36% CSW rate, and Cincinnati managed just 11 balls in play against him. His velocity held up, too, with his four-seamer averaging 95.5 mph and his sinker 95.9 mph.
Thankfully, the offense gave him enough support to make the gem count.
Chicago cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, and the source was a bit unexpected. Drew Romo launched a solo shot for his first home run since May 25, giving the Sox a 1-0 advantage.
The Good Guys had a chance to create some breathing room in the fifth but let it slip away. Brenton Doyle singled with one out before Romo reached on a force out and Sam Antonacci singled. Munetaka Murakami then worked a walk, extending his on-base streak to 27 games and loading the bases for Andrew Benintendi. But Benintendi struck out, and the Sox came away empty-handed.
They didn’t waste their next opportunity.
Colson Montgomery smoked a 113.6 mph single in the sixth, and Chase Meidroth followed by launching a two-run homer to stretch the lead to 3-0. We’re glad to have you back in the lineup, Chase.
With Castillo’s night finished after seven, rookie Hagen Smith took over in the eighth. Smith issued a leadoff walk but apparently decided that was enough messing around. He struck out the next three Reds in succession, earning the hold and preserving the shutout.
Chicago finally tacked on some insurance in the bottom half. Colson led off with a walk, and after Meidroth struck out, Tristian Peters worked another free pass. Doyle flew out to center, but Romo wasn’t finished with his big night. He plated Colson with a single for his second RBI, and Peters later scampered home on a wild pitch to make it 5-0.
Huascar Brazobán handled the ninth with the save situation long gone. He got Elly De La Cruz to ground out before surrendering a single to Sal Stewart, then retired the next two batters to finish the shutout.
Castillo was the headliner, but Romo provided a pretty good supporting act. Between seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts from Castillo, two scoreless frames from the pen and Romo’s first homer in more than two months, the Good Guys had themselves a much more enjoyable night.
The Sox will go for the series win tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 p.m. CST in the rubber match, with Davis Martin facing Andrew Abbott.
MVP
Luis Castillo: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K, PO, W
Runners-Up
Huascar Brazobán: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Hagen Smith: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 3 K, H
Drew Romo: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
Sam Antonacci: 3-for-5, 2B, SB
Colson Montgomery: 1-for-3, 2 R, BB, K
Chase Meidroth: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Tristan Peters: 1-for-3, R, BB, 2B, 2 K
Cold Cat
Andrew Benintendi: 0-for-3, K
