CLEVELAND – After the Cincinnati Reds swept the Pittsburgh Pirates and won 10 of their last 12 games, maybe they were due for a letdown.
Luis Castillo, who has been the star of the rotation for the past two months, didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. There were a few defensive miscues, and the Reds simply looked flat in their 9-3 loss to Cleveland on Monday at Progressive Field.
"For me, tonight was a bad night," Castillo said. "A bad night."
The Reds split their six games against Cleveland in the Ohio Cup. They haven’t won an outright season series against the soon-to-be Cleveland Guardians since 2014, which keeps the trophy in Cleveland for another year.
Castillo entered Monday with a 1.91 ERA in his last 12 starts, the second-lowest ERA in the Majors since June 1, which trailed only Los Angeles Dodgers righty Walker Buehler (1.73 ERA). He hadn’t allowed more than three runs in any of those starts. He’d pitched at least six innings in 10 of those 12 outings.
The run ended with a clunker.
Castillo surrendered eight runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out two. His velocity was a tick down. He threw a first-pitch strike to 16 of 21 batters, but he never seemed in command.
"The location of the pitches weren’t there tonight," Castillo said, according to team interpreter Jorge Merlos, "and the batters were able to make me pay. It was just a bad night for me, and we’re just moving forward."
Cleveland scored in all four innings against Castillo. The backbreaker, Castillo said, came in the second inning when he faced Wilson Ramos with a runner on base. He had already allowed two hits and a run in the previous inning.
Castillo fired an elevated fastball in a 0-2 count and Ramos launched it over the right-field wall for a two-run homer.
"I was trying to throw a pitch up high so I would get a swing and a miss right there, but he got the barrel on it," Castillo said. "It just went downhill from there."
The wheels began to fall off in the third inning. Second baseman Jonathan India misplayed a grounder he charged, which allowed Amed Rosario to open the inning with an infield single. Next up was José Ramírez, who hails from the same hometown as Castillo in the Dominican Republic.
Ramírez crushed a line drive to center field and Aristides Aquino couldn’t corral the ball as his body crashed into the wall. It turned into an RBI triple.
Another run scored in the inning on a ground ball to first baseman Tyler Stephenson – Joey Votto served as the designated hitter – because Stephenson stepped on first base and made a wide throw to second. The runner, Harold Ramírez, wisely retreated to first base to avoid the potential double play.
"It was just not our night," Castillo said, "and we paid for it in the end."
Castillo received a mound visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson after he allowed an RBI triple to Rosario in the fourth inning. The bullpen began warming and it was Castillo's last chance to salvage his outing.
Three pitches later, José Ramírez pulled a two-run homer over the right-field wall.
"Maybe the command was off a little bit," Reds manager David Bell said of Castillo. "Any team we play, your command's off a little bit, sometimes you can get in trouble. I wouldn't put any more on it than that."
It was the first time a Reds starting pitcher received a losing decision since Sonny Gray on July 25, ending a streak of 10 straight winning decisions.
The Reds had a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. India drew a leadoff walk and moved around the bases on a pair of productive outs. Votto followed with a two-out single to right field. Votto leads the league with 51 RBI since returning from his broken thumb on June 8.
India manufactured another run in the fifth inning. Trailing by seven runs, he hustled to a double on a ball hit to left field. Then he stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Cleveland outfielder Bradley Zimmer provided the Ohio Cup fireworks during his solo homer in the seventh inning against reliever Justin Wilson. It was a 471-foot blast to center field, nearly clearing the second row of trees behind the wall. It was the longest home run by a Cleveland batter this season as the ball left his bat at 111.6 mph.
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