BOSTON – Watching Luis Castillo’s first four starts to the season, everyone can see him slowly progressing toward his usual form.
Castillo missed the first month of the season with a shoulder strain and had minimal start to rehab. He’s been looking progressively better at every consecutive start since joining the course.
His first career start at Fenway Park was Castillo’s true comeback. His Fastball was up to 99 mph. Hitters who haven’t seen his change can only fall for it.
Castillo hit a top-10 hit of the season in six innings to push the Reds to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox in front of 28,577 fans. It is the first time the Reds have won a match at Fenway Park since Game Seven of the 1975 World Championships.
“Fantastic fastball, probably the best fastball of the year,” said Reds manager David Bale. “The speed was definitely there. I defined it really well from the start and the strength of the ride as he’s done in a long time and that says a lot.”
There was no chance that this game would match the stage performances Tony Perez Homer Two-Off Or Joe Morgan’s RBI song in the ninth inning in Game 7, but Castillo made his best start to the season.
“My idol Pedro Martinez has succeeded here, and that kind of definitely helped me get through the day,” said Castillo, according to team translator Jorge Merlos. “That was on my mind the whole time.”
Castillo protected his one-stroke lead at the bottom of the sixth inning, marching on his first two strokes in eight pitches. Alexis Diaz quickly warmed up for the bulls when the pitch at Castillo crossed 90. catcher Tyler Stephenson and shooting coach Derek Johnson made back-to-back visits.
Once Castillo put himself in the jam, he found a way out of it. He caused a double play against Rafael Devers after opening the bat at a 3-1 count. Then JD Martinez hit a slider in the dirt, a hitter who has been hitting .418 throughout May.
Stevenson and Castillo held identical celebrations, slamming their right hands into their gloves, after the hit ended in the first half.
“He’s one of the few bowlers in the league who can do that at that point in the game,” Bale said, adding that he had a feeling Castillo would be out in the sixth inning.
Castillo threw exactly 100 shots, allowing one hit and three walks across his six innings. Only two balls left the field. Before he walked into his first two hitters in the sixth inning, 14 of his last 15 hitters retired.
With his Fastball doing well, hitters were outplayed by his not-quick pitches. The Red Sox sniffed eight of 14 flips against his change.
“I know he doesn’t like to play in the cold, so maybe that helped him a little bit to work quickly,” Stephenson said. “From the beginning, he was saying there was 98 mph.”
Michael Washa, who has faced the Reds 23 times when he bid for the St. Louis Cardinals, was excellent in 5 and 2/3 of the innings as he tried to face Castillo. He allowed one unearned run and three hits without any walking.
The Reds scored each of their halves through two-faults, the first time they’ve won a match without an RBI since July 17, 2016, according to Bally Sports. Rafael Davers, third baseman for the Red Sox, bounced into the camera well in the sixth inning and Xander Bogarts missed a throw in the ninth.
“You knew that running at nine was going to be a huge hit,” Bell said. “You had that feeling.”
The Reds outhit Boston, 8-4. Joey Votto hit a pair of doubles that both landed at the top of the wall and flew back into the field, missing a night from Homer by a few inches. Three of the Red Sox’s hits came at the bottom of the ninth inning against closest Tony Santillan, including a solo RBI by Alex Verdugo.
Santillan stranded in a tie race at third base by hitting Trevor Storey.
“In some of these big cities, especially one that used to win, you can feel the momentum, so it takes a certain level of poise to be able to hold off the end-game momentum,” Foto said. “I was really touched.”
May was the Reds’ winning month (14-13) after their three wins in April. They no longer have the worst record in the league at 17-31, one game ahead of the Kansas City Royals.
And now the Reds have achieved their elusive victory over Fenway. Clay Carroll, 81, was the winning bowler the last time the Reds won in Boston.