Castillo dominant in 4-1 win

by — June 26, 2021 in Game Recap

The Reds rode a stellar performance from Luis Castillo and offensive production from the top of the lineup to a 4-1 victory over the Braves. This gives the Reds two of three so far in the series in their bounce-back campaign after the dismal road trip. Castillo continued to look like his old self, a small relief for the pitching staff with Tejay Antone and Lucas Sims now on the IL.

Offense

Jesse Winker put the Reds in the lead early with a monster 435 foot home run (109 mph EV) to center.

After the solo shot in the first, the Reds threatened again in the second, starting with a one-out Eugenio Suarez walk. Tucker Barnhart followed, shooting a 3-2 single through the right side to put men on first and second. Unfortunately, both were stranded after a Kyle Farmer 5-4-3 double play ended the inning.

The top of the lineup struck again and opened things up a bit in the third. Jonathan India ripped a one-out single into left field. Winker flew out for the second out of the inning, but the league leader in doubles added to his lead. Nick Castellanos stepped in and roped a 111.9 mph line drive over the center fielder scoring India all the way from first. The offense was not done yet as Joey Votto pulled a groundball through the right side, scoring bringing Castellanos around as he scored with a great slide to beat the throw by Ronald Acuna Jr.

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Ian Anderson settled in, striking out the next five reds and retiring the next ten through the sixth inning. The Braves bullpen provided a scoreless seventh. After 13 consecutive Reds batters had been retired, Tyler Stephenson provided instance insurance with a home run out of deep center (410 ft. 101.9 mph), making it 4-1 Reds.

Pitching

Luis Castillo looked like his old self, dealing for seven innings, mixing his fastball and changeup effectively for six strikeouts. Throwing 106 pitches, Castillo scattered six hits and two walks, only pitching into serious trouble once. It was good to see Castillo add another start to a June much closer to what we expected all year from the ace.

After a 1-2-3 first inning, including a Freddie Freeman strikeout, Castillo saw his most threatening inning in the second. Austin Riley scorched a ball through the shift at 112.7 mph for a single, and Dansby Swanson blooped another single into right, putting two on with no outs. Castillo responded, inducing a fielder’s choice to India at second. William Contreras followed with a groundball to Suarez at third that held the runners at second and third for the second out. Finally, Inciarte grounded out to India at second to end the inning and the threat.

A one-out fly ball to the gap with an xBA of only .140 fell in by a diving Jesse Winker for a double for Acuna with one out in the top of the third inning. Winker would later leave with a hip contusion from the dive. Freeman walked to put two men on, but Castillos got Albies to fly out to Naquin. Austin Riley connected well again and shot a line drive towards third base, but Suarez snagged it to end the inning.

The top of the sixth was the final threat for Castillo after Guillermo Heredia singled with two outs. Contreras followed with a double down the right-field line to the corner. Castellanos gathered and started the relay that would nail Heredia at the plate for the final out of the inning.

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After allowing no baserunners in the top of the seventh, Castillos’ afternoon came to a close as he gave way to Brad Brach in the eighth. It was not quite as smooth sailing after a one-out walk to Albies. Brach got Riley swinging for the second out but then walked Dansby Swanson to put two men on. Heredia singled again, scoring Albies to break up the shutout. Brach was able to get Contreras swinging to end the inning with the Reds up 3-1.

Amir Garret gave up only an infield single in the ninth to close out the game, striking out Freeman for a 4-1 Reds win.

Stats

Most Valuable Players

  • Luis Castillo: .306 WPA (Win Probability Added)
  • Nick Castellanos: .091 WPA
  • Jesse Winker: .075 WPA

Hardest-Hit Balls

  • Nick Castellanos: 112.7 mph | Double in 2nd inning
  • Jesse Winker: 119.0 mph | Home run in 1st inning
  • Tucker Barnhart: 106.7mph | Groundout in 7th inning

Unluckiest Out of the Day

  • Jonathan India: .610 xBA | Popout in 8th inning

Highest Velocities By Pitcher

  • Luis Castillo: 98.9 mph
  • Brad Brach: 94.5 mph
  • Amir Garrett: 96.8 mph

Highest Pitch Spins

  • Brad Brach: 2,600 rpm | Slider

Most Pitch Movement

  • Luis Castillo: 20 inches horizontal movement | Sinker
  • Luis Castillo: 40 inches vertical movement | Slider

Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)

  • Braves: .245
  • Reds: .247
What’s Next?

The Reds conclude the Braves series with an afternoon game at Great American Ball Park. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. EST as Tyler Mahle will take the hill against a pitcher to be determined.

Featured Image Photo by Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire

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Chris Duzyk

Chris began his Reds fandom with family trips from central Kentucky to Riverfront Stadium. At a young age, he had to learn to swing a wiffle ball bat left handed to properly imitate Ken Griffey Jr. and Sean Casey in backyard games against his brother. A graduate from Centre College, he was able to combine his love of baseball statistics and analytics often into his statistics and econometrics courses. He currently is living in Northern Kentucky where all it takes is a simple walk across the bridge to enjoy the games. Find him on Twitter @cduzyk.

1 Response

  1. Mike Adams says:
    June 26, 2021 at 8:40 PM

    Chris, I like the way the Reds are hanging in there in tight ballgames against Atlanta.

    To Steffen Taudal and Pinson343, looks like AG got the job done well today.
    I (we) hope he keeps it up since Sims and Antone are down now.

    Some are pessimistic about the Reds hanging around the 0.500 mark (not you guys).
    I think if they can just “get around the corner” on the injuries and poor bullpen performance they will get up there with Milwaukee and Chicago.

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