What a homecoming! Miami native Del Castillo notches slam, 6 RBIs vs. Marlins

MIAMI -- Growing up in Miami not far from where loanDepot park now sits, Adrian Del Castillo dreamed of one day playing there.

It’s hard to imagine his dreams were any better than what reality turned out to be Monday night as he hit a grand slam and drove in six runs to lead the D-backs past the Marlins, 9-6.

“I mean, no,” Del Castillo said when asked if he could have imagined a game like this there. “It was awesome.”

After striking out in his first at-bat, Del Castillo came to the plate in the third with the bases loaded. He lifted a 1-0 curveball from Adam Oller over the wall in right. The only problem was the ball had drifted just foul, making it a long strike, much to the chagrin of the large contingent of Del Castillo's friends and family in attendance.

“That’s usually not a good thing,” Del Castillo said. “Home run foul, they say a strikeout usually comes after that. I was definitely trying not to strike out there.”

He didn’t need to worry, because after taking two pitches for balls, Del Castillo got a 92.6 mph fastball up and on the outer edge of the plate, and he drove it over the wall in center for his first career grand slam.

“I just adjusted my sights,” Del Castillo said. “I was getting a little pull-happy and just was thinking, ‘Hit it to the bigger part of the field on the next pitches.”

Later, after Miami had rallied to cut Arizona's lead to 5-4, Del Castillo delivered a two-run single to right to give the club some added breathing room in the seventh.

The win snapped the D-backs' three-game losing streak.

When Arizona lost starting catcher Gabriel Moreno to an adductor muscle strain two weeks ago, it looked like a devastating blow.

But Del Castillo, who was called up from Triple-A Reno after the injury, has lessened the impact of Moreno’s absence by having one of the best nine-game starts to a career that any player has ever had.

To recap Del Castillo’s first nine games:

• He collected an RBI double in his first big league at-bat on Aug. 7.
• He hit a walk-off homer against the Phillies the next day on Aug. 8.
• He hit a game-tying homer off Rays closer Pete Fairbanks on Aug. 18.
• His 14 RBIs are the most through the first nine games of a player’s career in franchise history, and he tied Dale Alexander (1929) for the second-most in MLB history since RBIs became official in 1920, behind only Mitchell Page’s 15 RBIs in his first nine games in ‘77.
• His six RBIs on Monday tied the franchise record for most in a game by a rookie, joining Micah Owings, who did it on Aug. 18, 2007.

The crowd in Miami was announced at 7,318, and it felt like at least half of them were there to see Del Castillo as the vocal group behind the visitor’s dugout demanded a curtain call after the grand slam.

“It felt like it was the entire stadium was here for Del Castillo,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “It erupted a couple times, and deservedly so. I know that he's coming home, he went to University of Miami, I know he's from here, so we were [happy to be] with him and his celebration and the great moment that he had tonight.”

Del Castillo spent time after the game visiting with friends and family. Later in the clubhouse, he was emotional and fighting back tears, overwhelmed by the experience.

“They've been here since Day One,” Del Castillo said. “They've always been around me. It's not like they just came out just because I'm here [in the big leagues], but they've always been supporters, even at University of Miami on the way up. So it's awesome seeing them here, and then also them seeing me here, I'm pretty sure it's awesome, too.”