Luis Castillo hit hard early, Reds lose to Cardinals once again

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Eugenio Suarez had the lone big swing for the Cincinnati Reds on the day, belting a 2-run dinger off Michael Wacha that made us all give a slightly muted yayyyyy before looking at the scoreboard and realizing it wasn’t going to be enough to, y’know, actually beat the St. Louis Cardinals.

Suarez added a walk, and has truly blossomed into a cornerstone piece for the Reds of both now and the future. Now, if only he could figure out how to pitch, too...

Honorable Mentions are due to: Jesse Winker, who dingered; Joey Votto, who doubled, singled, and walked; Scott Schebler, who doubled in a run; Adam Duvall, who doubled and walked; and David Hernandez, who fired another 2 scoreless innings of relief.

Key Plays

• Luis Castillo opened the game by serving up back to back meatballs to Jose Martinez and Marcell Ozuna, each of whom thumped solo dingers to leave the Reds behind 2-0 in the Top of the 1st.
• Castillo walked pitcher Michael Wacha to begin the Top of the 3rd, which is a simply godawful offense. A Matt Carpenter single and later walk to Martinez then loaded the bases, but after getting Ozuna to pop-out for the inning’s 2nd out, Castillo served up another meater over the plate that Yadier Molina clubbed to the wall in left-center for a bases clearing triple. Good lord. Reds trailed, 5-0.
• Suarez finally got the Reds on the board in the Bottom of the 4th, flushing a cutter from Wacha well, well over the LF wall - and it was a 2-run blast thanks to Scooter Gennett’s single in front of him. Reds trailed, 5-2.
• Austin Brice took over for Castillo in the Top of the 7th and promptly served up a tater to Matt Carpenter, who poked it into the seats beyond the RF wall. Reds trailed, 6-2.
• Schebler’s double followed one from Jose Peraza in the Bottom of the 7th, plating another Reds run to shrink the deficit to 6-3.
• The Winky Dingy came off Sam Tuivailala in the Bottom of the 8th, a solo blast that landed just at the base of the power stacks in the right-center bleachers. Reds trailed, 6-4, which is unfortunately how things ended.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Luis Castillo’s day wasn’t all terrible, though when he allowed damage, it was bad damage. His final line - 6 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 10 K on 110 pitches - goes to highlight that, as he gave up big hits in both distance and in timing.
• Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and Todd Frazier have combined for just 14 homers this year in 155 combined games played. I have nothing to add to that.
• The Reds will try to finally, finally, for once beat the Cardinals on Sunday, as the series wraps with a 1:10 PM ET scheduled start. Anthony DeSclafani will take the mound for his second start since returning from his oblique injury, and he’ll be opposed by resident Cardinals ace Carlos Martinez.
• Tunes.