Votto's huge HR, Castillo's CG gem lift Reds

Because of a game that went into the wee hours in Chicago on Thursday night and an overnight flight to St. Louis, the heads of Reds players did not hit their pillows until sometime near 5 a.m. CT on Friday. With every game in the dwindling 2020 regular season carrying added consequence, they could ill afford to sleepwalk into their series opener against the Cardinals.

Joey Votto and Luis Castillo quickly knocked down any such thoughts by Friday evening at Busch Stadium. Votto pummeled a first-inning two-run home run and Castillo put together his first career complete game to lead Cincinnati to a 3-1 victory.

“I was able to get good enough rest throughout the night, morning. It’s why I was able to pitch the way I did, and that’s why I came away with the win,” Castillo said through an interpreter. “It’s marvelous to throw nine innings of a baseball game. I’m super emotional.”

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Castillo gave up one run on two hits and three walks with six strikeouts while throwing 112 pitches. It was the Reds’ first nine-inning complete game since Scott Feldman against the Giants on May 7, 2017.

“He was really, really good. You know, sometimes a pitcher has a way of owning the energy of the game,” Votto said. “He had that tonight, for sure. It was his game.”

Against venerable Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright in the first, Votto thought he drew a one-out four-pitch walk and started toward first base. But home-plate umpire Laz Diaz called a strike. Votto was alarmed, but he quickly regrouped before he mashed a 3-1 pitch to right field that he knew was gone immediately.

With an exit velocity of 113.2 mph, the ball traveled a projected 442 feet. It was the hardest-hit homer by Votto since Statcast tracking began in 2015, and his second longest in that span.

“It was a good feeling, for sure. I’m feeling like I'm heading in the right direction in some ways, personally,” said Votto, who turned 37 on Thursday. “All we needed was those two runs. [Castillo] was just so good tonight. He worked quick, kept us on our toes. We had a lot of action today on defense. It was really a perfect game from his perspective.”

It was a 2-1 game in the third when Eugenio Suárez hit a two-out double that scored Shogo Akiyama. Castillo needed no more help and took it from there.

After a leadoff walk and a double to open the bottom of the second, the lone St. Louis run scored on a Matt Carpenter groundout to first base. Castillo, who has won back-to-back starts after being winless over his first seven outings, then retired the rest of the side in order, with Tyler O’Neill fanning on an 88-mph changeup to end the threat.

“I think, for me, other times it might have gone a different way,” Castillo said. “But today, I just told myself I have the confidence to get myself out of this inning.”

Kolten Wong hit a one-out single in the third before Castillo retired 18 of the next 19 batters. Castillo's sinker and four-seam fastball each averaged 97 mph, and his secondary pitchers were also nasty, with his slider inducing nine swings and seven called strikes.

“Attacking the hitters. When you attack the hitters, you can set the game. For us, that’s what really worked tonight,” Castillo said.

In the seventh and eighth innings, Castillo needed only 16 total pitches, which gave him just 96 heading into the ninth. That made manager David Bell’s decision easier to stick with Castillo, even if he had closer Raisel Iglesias up in the bullpen.

“Even to the point where he kind of had a plan going into the ninth and you could almost just relax and enjoy the moment, enjoy watching him pitch,” Bell said. “I was locked in on Luis the whole inning. His arm clearly was fine.”

In the ninth, Paul Goldschmidt drew a two-out walk on a close pitch from Castillo. The right-hander kept his composure.

“I was just focused on throwing a complete game, because that’s what I really wanted to do tonight,” Castillo said.

The game ended on Brad Miller’s grounder back to Castillo, who could relax and celebrate going the distance for the first time.

At 20-25, the Reds are now 2 1/2 games behind the Cardinals for second place in the National League Central. The first- and second-place teams from every division will make the expanded 16-team postseason, along with two Wild Cards from each league.

“It was very, very, very important. Every game going forward is more important than the next,” Votto said. “We’re very lucky. We’ve played poorly this year, and we have a chance. That’s why you play to the very last out of the season.”