Reds Finish 3-game sweep
Billy Hamilton breaks left thumb on bunt attempt in first inning.
CINCINNATI — As well as Luis Castillo has pitched this season, he didn’t have many wins to show for it.
His teammates made sure he got one in his last appearance of the season.
Castillo, who is being shut down to make sure he doesn’t increase his innings from last season by more than is advisable, set a career high with 10 strikeouts in seven innings and the Reds erupted for five third-inning runs on their way to completing a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 7-1 win Wednesday.
Zack Cozart led off the seventh with his 18th homer and Jose Peraza hit his fifth with one out in the eighth to help seal the win for Castillo (3-7), who finishes with a 3.12 ERA in 15 starts and 1691/3 innings, 372/3 more than he logged last season.
The Reds wanted to keep Castillo’s increase from last season to this year between 30 and 35 innings, but manager Bryan Price kept open the possibility that he could expand that count if Castillo seemed capable of handling it.
No problem. Despite throwing 111 pitches, matching his second-highest total of the season, Castillo faced more than four batters in only the first inning.
The sweep, Cincinnati’s first of Milwaukee since a three-game series in May 2013, dropped the Brewers four games behind the NL Central-leading Cubs, depending on what the Cubs did in Wednesday night’s series finale in Pittsburgh.
After Phillip Ervin struck out pinch-hitting for the injured Billy Hamilton to lead off the third inning, the Reds got consecutive singles from Cozart, Joey Votto, Adam Duvall and Eugenio Suarez to score one run and load the bases for Scott Schebler, who coaxed a bases-loaded walk out of Matt Garza.
Peraza followed with a potential double-play grounder to shortstop Orlando Arcia, who got one out at second base, but Hernan Perez’s throw got away from first baseman Neil Walker for an error. Two runs scored on the play, and Brewers manager Craig Counsell brought in left-hander Brent Suter, who gave up Tucker Barnhart’s RBI single that capped the five-run outburst.
Hamilton left in the third inning due to a fractured left thumb. Leading off the bottom of the first, Hamilton attempted to bunt a 2-1 pitch from Garza, and he appeared to hurt his thumb as he fouled it off. He was able to complete the plate appearance, and he flied out to left field.
Ervin replaced him in center field. Road again: The Reds are hoping to snap a six-game losing streak at New York’s Citi Field when they open a four-game series against the Mets tonight. Rookie right-hander Tyler Mahle (0-1) is Cincinnati’s scheduled starter in his third major league game. Right-hander Matt Harvey (4-4) is scheduled to start for the Mets.
Harvey gave up seven runs in two innings on Saturday at Houston in his first start since coming off the disabled list. He’d been out since June with a shoulder injury.
Harvey had lobbied to start on Wednesday after just three days of rest, but the Mets decided to keep him on four days of rest.