That was the Luis Castillo the White Sox were hoping for.
Castillo, the 10-year veteran acquired from the Mariners two days before the trade deadline, pitched seven scoreless innings Wednesday against the Reds, allowing one hit and two walks in his first home start at Rate Field. He set a season high with 10 strikeouts.
Manager Will Venable is looking for length from Castillo to help a rotation that largely has been short on it. He got that and more as Castillo rebounded from his Sox debut, in which he allowed five runs in four innings last Thursday in Boston.
“That was awesome. In control the whole time,” Venable said. “He attacked the zone really well. He and Drew Romo were on the same page. Drew did an outstanding job; another shutout that he’s caught for us. [Castillo] didn’t let them get anything going.”
Romo also provided a rare boost with his bat, hitting his first home run since May 25, a 403-foot solo shot. Chase Meidroth, back from a two-game break to nurse a sore left wrist, hit a two-run homer, and Munetaka Murakami walked to extend his on-base streak to 27 games.
“I’ve been trying a lot of stuff in the cage,” said Romo, who entered the game hitting .126. “Everything is good in the cage, and then I go out on the field, and it goes back to the way it was. So I’m like, I’m just not going to hit today. And then I went and did that. So I guess I’m not going to hit again.”
Castillo retired 11 consecutive batters between his walks and fanned the final four batters he faced. Never mind that Reds hitters had the third-most strikeouts and the worst batting average in the majors at the time of his departure. They never even reached second base.
At 89 pitches after six innings, Castillo had every intention of pitching the seventh.
“After the sixth, [Venable] came to me and asked if I wanted one more inning,” said Castillo, who threw 105 pitches. “I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ I was looking at him like, what are you talking about? I really wanted that seventh.”
Lineup shuffle
Thinking of the big picture as the Sox pursue a playoff spot, Venable gave third baseman Miguel Vargas the day off.
“I know we just had an off day [Monday], but to get a couple of these guys a couple days off here as we get into this stretch,” Venable said of the Sox’ 16 games in 16 days. “It might just be one more for some of these guys in September. Got a long way to go here.”
With Vargas out of the lineup, Venable put Colson Montgomery at third base, Meidroth at shortstop and Sam Antonacci at second. That opened up left field for Tristan Peters and center for Brenton Doyle, who earned high praise from Venable.
“He’s solid in his swing decisions,” Venable said. “He’s got power, he’s hitting the ball hard, he’s an elite defender, he runs the bases well. You just look at him physically and like having that on the field. He’s great in the clubhouse. He’s checking all the boxes for us. The more we can expose him to the field, the better for us.”
Colson’s bad timing
Montgomery continues to search for his stroke at the plate. In four at-bats, he struck out looking, popped out, lined a single to right at almost 114 mph and walked. Venable said the problem is Montgomery’s timing.
“It has been inconsistency with his timing at the plate,” he said. “Saw him tap into it the other day, hits that homer; it’s just been inconsistent. For him to put himself in a position to see the ball, make good swing decisions and get good swings off, it’s really important to have his timing. And when it’s not there, that’s when you see the inconsistency in the swings, in the contact.”
‘What an at-bat’
Reds reliever Emilio Pagan won a 14-pitch battle against Antonacci on Tuesday, striking him out with the tying run on second in the 10th inning. He was complimentary of the Sox rookie.
“What an at-bat by him,” said Pagan, a 10-year veteran. “I threw some really good pitches up and away, which is my go-to whiff pitch. Got the breaking ball in on him; he fouled that off, too. Laid off a split off the plate. I threw him whatever I had.”