Castillo, bullpen pitches Reds to 2-1 win at Fenway

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BOSTON (AP) — Joey Votto spiked a long fly ball off the top edge of the short right-field wall in front of the Red Sox bullpen in the fifth inning. It popped into the air and back into play for a double.

Then, in the eighth, he did the same thing, only to the 37-foot high Green Monster in left.

Two hits, two doubles — and perhaps a total of two inches from being a pair of home runs.

“I don’t think I have (seen that), to come that close to two home runs in really almost identical plays to different parts of the ballpark,” Reds manager David Bell said after Cincinnati held on to beat Boston 2-1 on Tuesday night.

“We went over the ground rules before the game and they talked about that,” he added. “You listen, but you don’t actually think it’s going to happen.”

Luis Castillo struck out 10 while pitching six innings of one-hit ball, and the Reds held off a ninth-inning Boston rally to snap a nine-game losing streak against the Red Sox and win at Fenway Park for the first time since Game 7 of the 1975 World Series.

“Haven’t played here a lot, but still, it’s a big deal,” Bell said.

Cincinnati scored both runs on Red Sox throwing errors. Castillo (2-2) walked three before leaving with a 1-0 lead after six and two relievers delivered a one-hit shutout to closer Tony Santillan.

Kiké Hernández singled to lead off the ninth and Rafael Devers doubled to put runners at second and third. After Santillan retired J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts, Alex Verdugo hit a chopper that Votto couldn’t handle at first, allowing one run to score on the single.

Santillan then struck out Trevor Story on three pitches to earn his fourth save.

Michael Wacha (3-1) retired the first 12 batters of the game before Votto’s first double. Wacha started in a Boston loss for the first time since opening week despite allowing zero earned runs on three hits and striking out three.

The Red Sox have scored a total of one run in back-to-back games against a pair of last-place teams that enter June a combined 22 games below .500.

SO CLOSE

Votto’s double in the eighth bounced off the red line on the front corner of the top of the Green Monster and back into play. To be a homer, it would need to clear the line, which runs along the edge of a small shelf that keeps fans from reaching over the wall and interfering with live balls.

It’s not uncommon for home runs to clear the line and still bounce back onto the field, which is misleading to umpires and a frequent source of replay reviews at Fenway.

The Reds did challenge, but replays showed conclusively the ball remained in play.

“I’ve never seen that in my life,” Castillo said. “Of course it would happen to one of the veteran guys like Joey Votto, who has gone through everything.”

Votto said he was more concerned about putting a good swing on the ball than on the results. He went 1 for 9 in his only other trip to Fenway, in 2014.

“The last time I was here I was hurt, and I felt like I got bullied by the fans,” he said. “Normally I do answer back, but I wasn’t at my very best, whereas now, I feel healthy, I feel strong and I feel like I’m in a good place. And when they start giving it to me, I feel like I can answer back.”

OLD FRIENDS

The Red Sox are 12-2 against the Reds in interleague play, winning each of the previous nine games, and the first five at Fenway Park. The teams also met in the 1975 World Series, which Cincinnati won in seven games one day after Carlton Fisk’s arm-waving, 12th-inning homer in Game 6. (The teams split the four games at Fenway.)

In all, the Reds are 6-17-1 at the ballpark, including a 3-10-1 record against the Boston Braves when they played at Fenway for parts of the 1914-15 season.

The Reds hadn’t visited Boston in 2014, which is perhaps why no one noticed that their plaque on the Green Monster’s manual scoreboard misspelled their hometown as “CINN.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: OF Tommy Pham was scratched from the lineup about two hours before the first pitch with a sore left calf. He had just finished a three-game suspension for slapping Giants outfielder Joc Pederson over a fantasy football dispute. … RF and leadoff hitter Tyler Naquin left the game with a left quad strain. Aristides Aquino replaced him.

Red Sox: Devers was in the on-deck circle when he was hit in the chest by Hernandez’s checked swing foul ball. After Hernandez made the last out of the third, Devers took his position at third base.

UP NEXT

Boston RHP Garrett Whitlock (1-1) faces Cincinnati RHP Hunter Greene (2-6) in the finale of the two-game series.

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Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto watches his double during the fifth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2022/06/web1_128970570-d90ed851900e4e988f0c3b1beec650fd.jpgCincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto watches his double during the fifth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo is congratulated while heading to the dugout after striking out Boston Red Sox’s J.D. Martinez to end the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2022/06/web1_128970570-25349b5fc7124cfb80a26605744eb991.jpgCincinnati Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo is congratulated while heading to the dugout after striking out Boston Red Sox’s J.D. Martinez to end the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Michael Wacha heads to the dugout after being pulled during the sixth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2022/06/web1_128970570-bc856c03356f4c99a4acbee8d6c4f819.jpgBoston Red Sox starting pitcher Michael Wacha heads to the dugout after being pulled during the sixth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Cincinnati Reds (17-31, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (23-27, fourth in the AL East)

Boston; Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Hunter Greene (2-6, 5.89 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 56 strikeouts); Red Sox: Garrett Whitlock (1-1, 3.49 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 44 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Sox -209, Reds +176; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox meet on Wednesday for the second game of a two-game series. The Reds won the first, 2-1.

Boston is 23-27 overall and 12-14 at home. The Red Sox have a 10-6 record in games when they did not allow a home run.

Cincinnati has an 8-19 record on the road and a 17-31 record overall. The Reds are 13-3 in games when they out-hit their opponents.

Wednesday’s game is the second time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Rafael Devers leads Boston with 11 home runs while slugging .605. Trevor Story is 7-for-35 with three home runs and nine RBI over the last 10 games.

Brandon Drury has eight home runs, 13 walks and 26 RBI while hitting .233 for the Reds. Kyle Farmer is 9-for-21 with three home runs and eight RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 5-5, .306 batting average, 4.40 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs

Reds: 6-4, .253 batting average, 4.15 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

INJURIES: Red Sox: Matt Strahm: 15-Day IL (covid-19), Hansel Robles: 15-Day IL (back), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (back), Chris Sale: 60-Day IL (rib), James Paxton: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Reds: Tyler Naquin: day-to-day (quadricep), Tommy Pham: day-to-day (calf), Justin Wilson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Connor Overton: 60-Day IL (back), Donovan Solano: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Lucas Sims: 15-Day IL (lower back), Jonathan India: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jake Fraley: 10-Day IL (knee), Nick Lodolo: 10-Day IL (back), Daniel Duarte: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jose Garcia: 10-Day IL (hand), Mike Minor: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Max Schrock: 60-Day IL (calf), Justin Dunn: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tejay Antone: 60-Day IL (undisclosed)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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