Lacking changeup, Castillo shows off other tools in toolbox

ST. LOUIS -- Luis Castillo looked great against the Cardinals on Friday night, but the Reds' starting pitcher couldn't defend for his fielders or hit for his hitters during a 2-0 loss at Busch Stadium.

Castillo gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits over six frames that were all singles. He walked one and struck out three but dropped to a 2-4 record and 3.23 ERA in seven starts this season after coming off the injured list May 9.

"Luis was great. Excellent in every way," Reds manager David Bell said. "He has had several starts where he has been really good."

Cincinnati's lineup was short-handed because of recent injuries to catcher Tyler Stephenson and outfielders Nick Senzel and Albert Almora Jr. while Jonathan India, Tyler Naquin and Mike Moustakas have been out for extended periods. The Reds loaded the bases with two outs twice on walks in the first and eighth innings, but the offense lacked the punch to do damage.

But it was a pair of defensive errors that would cost Castillo the most during the bottom of the first inning.

Following a two-out walk to Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado looked at an 0-2 fastball at the bottom of the strike zone. Instead of a strikeout, it was called a ball by home-plate umpire Tom Hallion. Arenado followed with a blooped single to short right field. As right fielder Aristides Aquino fielded the ball and ran the ball towards the infield, he rushed a throw behind Arenado to first base and it got away past Joey Votto for an error that scored Goldschmidt.

Next batter Tyler O'Neill hit a grounder to third base for a potential third out, but Brandon Drury threw the ball away for an error that scored Arenado even though O'Neill was credited with a hit on the play.

"Aquino, we reward him when he makes great plays and keeps runs off the board," Bell said. "We can't knock it or punish it when he tries to make a play. We want our guys to play free and unafraid to make mistakes. Make plays, that's how we've created a good situation with our defense.

"Same with Brandon. He was playing really deep with the runner on second base. He has been playing an outstanding third base. We want our guys to keep making plays and stay aggressive. Unfortunately, it's part of the game."

A series of fourth-inning defensive miscues also hurt Castillo during his previous start, Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Nationals.

"Those are just things that are part of the game," Castillo said via interpeter Jorge Merlos. "Obviously, no one is perfect, no one is going to be perfect. What I'm glad about is we were able to battle today, able to get through those innings and we're healthy and able to battle."

After a pair of third-inning Cardinals singles with one out, Castillo retired 10 in a row and 11 of his last 12 batters. The right-hander has a 2.45 ERA over his last five starts.

Despite feeling good on the mound, Castillo lacked his usually strong changeup for the second straight start. He still had other tools in his toolbox.

Using his slider the most -- on 37 of his 102 pitches -- Castillo got 22 swings, five misses and 10 balls put in play -- including several grounders. Contact against the pitch was weak at an average of 76.1 mph, according to Statcast.

"The slider, obviously, we used it more than we've done in the past," Castillo said. "Sometimes you have to make those adjustments whatever the situation that's going on during the game. Maybe the changeup wasn't the best as we thought it would be. We went to the slider and it worked out."

His four-seam fastball, which averaged 97.6 mph and topped at 99.3 mph, became the strikeout pitch -- and was used for all three of Castillo's K's.

"When you don't have one of your pitches that's working for you, you have to rely on your other pitches," Castillo said. "Tonight, we were able to use the slider and the fastball as well as we could to get a good outing."

The results still culminated in Cincinnati's third-straight loss and the sixth in its last eight games as the club dropped to 20-38.

"We took some good at-bats, but [Castillo] made some pretty good pitches," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "Even early on, that Nolan at-bat, he stuck that four-seamer at the bottom of the zone at 99 [mph] and it was called a ball. But he did a nice job."