Colorado rocks Luis Castillo, Cincinnati Reds lose 13-8 slugfest in Coors Field

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India both hit late homers.

Aside from that, though, let’s just say this game was a classic slugfest between the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies, one that the Reds will hopefully, mercifully forget as soon as possible.

Key Plays

• The first two batters that Luis Castillo faced in this one reached base, the latter of whom was Connor Joe, an old friend of the Reds. Joe’s double to the wall in CF scored Raimel Tapia before an out was recorded in the Bottom of the 1st, and after Castillo then yielded a homer to whatever a Josh Fuentes is, the Reds were down 3-0 early.
• Castillo folded again in the Bottom of the 4th, and it was Joe again with the biggest hit, a 2-run single that left the Reds in a 5-0 hole. Charlie Blackmon followed with an RBI single, Ryan McMahon did, too, as did Fuentes, and yet another rout at Castillo’s expense was on.
• The Rockies scored in the Bottom of the 5th, too.
• The Rockies scored in the Bottom of the 6th, as well.
• The Rockies did not score in the Bottom of the 7th, I don’t think.
• Chi Chi Gonzalez exited prior to the Top of the 8th, and the Reds finally dented the scoreboard against his bullpen. Jonathan India singled and scored a batter later when Stephenson bonked his 2-run tater. Shogo Akiyama and Nick Castellanos then followed with singles of their own, with Shogo later scoring on a single by Alex Blandino. It was old friend Robert Stephenson on the bump for much of this, by the way, including for the ribbie single by Tucker Barnhart that tacked on another run and the one by Kyle Farmer that added another, too. Mychal Givens had taken over by the time India stepped to the plate, but the Reds rookie greeted him with a 3-run tater that cut this to a completely intriguing 10-8 game.
• Just when things got intriguing, they got untriguing. Cionel Perez took over and the Rockies immediately dropped another trio of runs, capped by a Garrett Hampson dinger that put the Reds in a 13-8 hole.
• That’s it. That’s how this ended.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Nick Senzel slammed into the CF wall trying to make a play on Joe’s double in the Bottom of the 1st, and he exited the game before his next PA in favor of Shogo Akiyama. The Reds later said his exit was due to a ‘heel contusion.’ Beer me.
• Josh Fuentes, who socked the 2-run dinger that put the Rockies in the driver’s seat early, entered play today with a .524 OPS (37 OPS+) in 101 PA. Beer me again.
• Mike Moustakas later exited after his finger was being looked at in the dugout, per The Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith. Keep right on beering me.
• The Reds are now 1-7 in games started by Luis Castillo and 16-11 in all other games. Just throw a full beer at my head already.
• Friday’s contest between the Reds and Rockies will feature Wade Miley on the mound for the first time since his nary-a-hitter. Luis Castillo is one of the very, very few pitchers who has gotten off to a worse start than German Marquez, the Rockies scheduled starter for tomorrow, so keep that in mind when he takes the bump Friday evening. First pitch is set for 8:40 PM ET.
• Tunes.