Reds rock Luis Castillo in his return to Cincinnati as Mariners lose, 8-4

Adam Jude, The Seattle Times on Apr 15, 2025

Published in Baseball

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CINCINNATI — Back in the place he was often at his best, Luis Castillo did not have his best stuff Tuesday night.

Austin Hays lofted a wind-aided three-run home run in his Reds debut, spoiling Castillo’s return to Cincinnati in the Mariners’ 8-4 defeat to begin a nine-game road trip at Great American Ball Park.

Dylan Moore hit the first leadoff home run of his career, then hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to give the Mariners a 4-2 lead.

Castillo couldn’t make it stick.

The 32-year-old right-hander walked the first two batters — Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz — in the bottom of the fifth inning, and both proved costly.

Gavin Lux singled to cut the Mariners’ lead to 4-3.

Hays, activated from the injured list earlier in the day, then sent a high fly ball to straightaway center field. On a day of persistent wind gusts — blowing out to left-center — Julio Rodriguez tried to track the ball as he approached the fence, but he didn’t get close enough to make a leap as the ball tailed away from him and landed on a berm just over the 404-foot sign.

The three-run homer gave the Reds a 6-4 lead and Castillo’s day was done soon after.

Castillo is one of the most significant trade acquisitions in recent Mariners history, having come over in July 2022 and helping the M’s end a 21-year playoff drought that year.

Coincidentally, the key prospect the Reds got back from the Mariners in that trade — third baseman Noelvi Marte — was demoted to Triple-A early in the day Tuesday.

Marte, still just 23, was suspended for the first 80 games of the 2024 season for testing positive for the banned substance, and he has yet to establish himself with the Reds.

Castillo broke in with the Reds in 2017 and became a two-time NL All-Star during his six seasons in Cincinnati.

His return Tuesday didn’t go as planned. He surrendered six runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

He got just eight swings-and-misses on his 95 pitches, and just 54 of those pitches were strikes. He threw first-pitch strikes to just 12 of the 24 batters he faced.

Ben Williamson made his debut for the Mariners, starting at third base and hitting a solid single to left field off Reds starter Nick Lodolo in his first at-bat.