With two outs in the sixth inning Thursday, Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo left the game to a standing ovation from the crowd.
Castillo had just finished one of his best starts of the season, allowing one hit in 5 ⅔ innings and retiring 15 consecutive batters at one point against the Milwaukee Brewers. But when manager David Bell pulled Castillo from a game the Reds led by one run, the Brewers had two runners on base.
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With standout reliever Tejay Antone unavailable, the Reds turned to Lucas Sims.
One batter later, reliever Lucas Sims allowed a game-tying double. Two batters later, the Brewers had a two-run lead. Despite a vintage performance from Castillo, he took the loss as the Reds fell to the Brewers, 7-2, at Great American Ball Park.
“Lucas has (executed) for us and will do it a lot moving forward,” Bell said. “He did it a lot last year, he’ll do it a lot this year. He’ll continue to get that opportunity a lot, but Tejay wasn’t part of the decision because he wasn’t an option today.”
For the second time this series, one of the Reds top of the rotation starters handed a one-run lead to the bullpen. And for the second time in three games, the Reds bullpen didn’t close out the game.
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Sims, who hadn’t allowed a run in his last six games and has been the Reds second-best reliever, replaced Castillo in the sixth. Brewers shortstop Willy Adames hit a ground rule double off Sims to tie the score, and then Brewers second baseman Jace Peterson hit a single to left field that gave the Brewers a 4-2 lead.
“The guys in our bullpen have had success,” Bell said. “I know it’s easy to talk about them as an entire group – but each individual pitcher is his own guy and has his own things that he’s working on and we’ll continue to do that and continue to support them.”
Castillo was charged with two of the Brewers three runs in the sixth, but he otherwise was dominant. Castillo leaned on his changeup more than he had in recent starts, and Brewers hitters whiffed on a third of their swings against that pitch.
“The job that we've done has been really good and the adjustments we've been doing have worked really well,” Castillo said according to team interpreter Jorge Merlos. “I'm glad that these two outings have been working well for me. I've just got to keep working at it. You can't stop now, you have to keep going and keep trying to get better each time you go out there.”
While Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta was pulled after a 37 minute rain delay before the fifth inning, Bell kept Castillo in the game. Castillo was even better after the rain delay, hitting 98 mph on the radar gun and striking out three of the first four hitters he faced.
“Luis came out and was throwing as well as ever, which was great to see,” Bell said.
Castillo had only three total walks on Thursday, but two of those came in the sixth inning. Both of those runners scored after Castillo left the game.
In the seventh inning, reliever Sean Doolittle allowed a two-run home run to Brewers first baseman Daniel Vogelbach. In three of Cincinnati’s last four games, the bullpen has allowed at least four runs
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“They’re here for a reason,” Bell said. “They’re here because we believe in them and they will continue to get opportunities. And things change. I really believe things will get going in the right direction for our bullpen.”
Reds first baseman Joey Votto hit his first home run since returning from the injured list, and left fielder Jesse Winker had an RBI single in the fifth inning that briefly gave the Reds the lead.
The Reds lost the series against the Brewers as well as the opportunity to return to .500 for the first time since May 16.
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“It’s one game, one inning,” Bell said. “That’s where the winning mentality and toughness stands strong, not turning it into any more than that is what our team is really good at. Today went the way it did, and we move forward to tomorrow and are looking forward to that.”
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