PHILADELPHIA – Luis Castillo was electric for most of his start Saturday, throwing the fastest pitches of his career, fooling Philadelphia Phillies hitters with his change-up and allowing one hit through his first five innings.
It was all overshadowed by Matt Moore, who was making a spot start for the Phillies because two other starters are working their way back from the 10-day injured list and entered with a 6.79 ERA.
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That’s not the version of Moore the Reds saw at Citizens Bank Park in front of a crowd of 25,100 in their 6-1 loss. Moore carried a no-hitter through six innings, overpowering hitters with his four-pitch mix of four-seam fastball, changeup, cutter and curveball.
Moore was limited to six innings because he had thrown only 62 pitches this month before Saturday afternoon. Hector Neris pitched a clean seventh inning before Tyler Stephenson broke up the combined no-hitter with a solo homer to open the eighth.
"As (Moore) kept getting outs, I think he kept growing in confidence," Reds manager David Bell said. "He just kept pitching and pitching well."
The Reds couldn’t do much against Moore. Joey Votto drew a leadoff walk in the second inning, but Moore induced back-to-back double play grounders to shortstop. The first double play was overturned on replay review and the second one ended the inning.
Nick Castellanos drew a two-out walk in the fourth inning, putting a runner on base for the hottest hitter in the league. Moore struck out Votto on three pitches, finishing the at-bat with an 84-mph changeup.
"We had some really well-hit balls," Stephenson said. "They just happened to make some great plays. Sometimes it’s like that. I know on their end, they smoked some balls right to Joey at first base. That’s the game for you."
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Moore struck out eight, one shy of his season-high. All were swinging strikeouts, eliciting 15 swings-and-misses on his 76 pitches. It was his first time throwing more than 70 pitches in an outing since July 22.
The Reds sent only three balls into the outfield against him. He came within two strikes of a no-hitter five years ago when he pitched for the San Francisco Giants. Corey Seager, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, spoiled it with a line-drive single to right field on Moore’s 133rd pitch.
The last Phillies pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the Reds was Roy Halladay in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
"Matt Moore was outstanding," Bell said. "He kept us off balance. He used his changeup. Made pitches with his fastball. He was using a cutter and you have to give him a lot of credit. You can’t take anything away from what he did today. He’s done it. He’s been doing it for a long time. He really stepped up for them and pitched a great game."
Castillo came up short in the pitcher’s duel, permitting five hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings. He looked better than his pitching line, striking out eight and walking two.
He reached 100.7 mph with his fastball when he struck out J.T. Realmuto in the first inning, the fastest pitch of his career. He threw four fastballs above 100 mph and 12 at 99 mph, which he attributed to the adrenaline of facing another playoff hopeful.
"I looked at the scoreboard and I saw 101," Castillo said, according to interpreter Jorge Merlos. "I was like, ‘Dang, I’ve got potential today.’"
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Stephenson, the catcher, told someone in the dugout, "Man, he's throwing hard." Then he looked at a team's iPad and saw Castillo hit 101 mph.
"The ability to throw that hard and then everybody knows how good his changeup is, for it to be 88 mph, it’s just impossible to kind of hit that," Stephenson said. "There were a few times where we could have gone changeups, but throwing a well-executed 101 mph fastball, I like our chances with it."
Ronald Torreyes gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the third inning when he hit a solo homer over the right-field wall, hooking a 97-mph fastball inside of the foul pole. It was Torreyes’ 10th career homer.
Castillo retired nine consecutive batters after the home run, carrying a one-hitter into the sixth inning.
"You have to give the Phillies credit there to be able to battle and get a couple off him," Bell said, "because that easily could’ve been no runs, for sure, the way he was pitching, the stuff he had and the confidence he was pitching with. It was all there."
The Phillies added a run against Castillo in the sixth and seventh innings through small ball. Odúbel Herrera reached on an infield single to open the sixth and Moore dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Herrera to second base. Realmuto followed with a two-out double into the left-center gap.
With two runners on base in the seventh inning, via a walk and a bunt single, pinch-hitter Travis Jankowski lined a two-out RBI single into left field.
Was there pressure to try to match Moore, who was throwing a no-hitter?
"I never feel any pressure," Castillo said. "I’m just focused on what I have to do. I just try to support my team as best as I can. I mean, I’ve always wanted to throw a no-hitter. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do in my career."
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Philadelphia added three runs in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Sean Doolittle. Bryce Harper hit an RBI triple past a diving Castellanos, the right fielder, and then Harper scored when Farmer threw the ball into the infield and there was nobody there to catch it. Harper saw the ball on the ground and sprinted to the plate to take advantage of the defensive gaffe.
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