Reds hang on after Castillo stymies Twins

CINCINNATI -- Their bad late-inning loss to the Twins on Tuesday night had barely set in when the Reds were already discussing the importance of moving on and leaving it behind them. With Luis Castillo pitching on Wednesday, many expected a quick and successful rebound.

Castillo gave them that, and the offense provided plenty of assistance with a four-run third inning. But the persistently leaky Reds bullpen nearly gave it all away before hanging on for a 6-5 victory over Minnesota at Great American Ball Park that split the two-game series.

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"I am going out there trying to support my team the best that I can with my pitching and what I do out there," Castillo said via interpreter Jorge Merlos.

Over six innings and 101 pitches, Castillo allowed one earned run and six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. His lone blemish was a two-out home run in the top of the first inning by Jorge Polanco -- who provided the Twins with their game-winning homer in the ninth inning on Tuesday.

Since he opened the season with a 1-8 record and 7.22 ERA through May 29, Castillo is 5-2 with a 1.91 ERA in his last 12 starts.

"Usually you see a pitcher struggle and you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s got it. They figured him out.’ Castillo is always a guy like, 'No, he’ll turn it on,'" said reliever Michael Lorenzen, who notched a five-out save. "There is zero doubt in our mind that he’ll figure it out. Something is a little off, and it’s going to take him one start to just find it, and he’s going to be Castillo.

"There are very few people you can say that about, and he’s definitely one of them. It’s him being him, and he’s one of my all-time favorite teammates just the way he goes about his business each and every day."

"I’m happy that my teammates think of me like that and they’re really happy that everything is going well out there when I go out there," Castillo said.

After the Polanco homer, Castillo largely avoided danger until he reached the top of the sixth inning. Polanco led off with a single and Luis Arraez followed with a walk. That brought pitching coach Derek Johnson to the mound for a visit. Castillo responded by throwing a 1-1 sinker to Miguel Sanó and got a nice 4-6-3 double play turned by middle infielders Jonathan India and Kyle Farmer.

"[Johnson] said, ‘Make that pitch to get the groundout right there.’ Sure enough, that ball was well-executed," Castillo said. "We were able to get the double play right there. I think that was the biggest double play we got for the game.”

Against Twins starter Charlie Barnes, a two-out walk to Jesse Winker put runners on the corners and opened a big rally. Farmer tied the game with an RBI single into left field before Joey Votto lined a two-run double to left-center field. Tyler Stephenson added an RBI single to left field to make it a 4-1 game. India's RBI single in the fourth inning scored Shogo Akiyama to give the Reds a four-run lead.

Stephenson's two-out solo homer in the bottom of the seventh gave the Reds a 6-1 lead. All of that padding was needed as Minnesota rallied to score four runs in the top of the eighth. It all started when reliever Brad Brach walked the first two batters on a combined nine pitches. Sanó hit an RBI double and when Luis Cessa took over, first batter Trevor Larnach hit a two-run double.

"We’ll just keep working," Reds manager David Bell said. "We’re no different than any other good team playing very competitive games. They’re not easy. They’re fun to be a part of. They don’t go perfect, but there are areas where you learn and you keep trying to get better, and you make adjustments. And that’s what this team has done."

Lorenzen, who has four scoreless appearances since returning from the injured list on Friday, finished the eighth inning but not before leaving two runners in scoring position. He gave up a one-out single in the ninth but ended the game by getting another double play from Sanó.

"I don't think I realized that we were only up by one until -- I don't remember when I realized," said Lorenzen after his first save of 2021. "I just want to pitch and throw every pitch with conviction and challenge myself to do that no matter the situation."

After they dropped four games in a row coming out of the All-Star break, the Reds have posted back-to-back losses just once -- July 25-26 vs. the Cardinals and Cubs. Following Saturday's loss in extra innings to the first-place Mets, they bounced back with a decisive win on Sunday.

"I think we’ve seen it over and over and over again," Bell said. "Everyone in here really appreciates that, so I think it’s something to really embrace and something to really appreciate."