McCoy: Castellanos cracks two home runs, drives in six as Reds rout Cardinals

And the Reds crushed the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-2, in the second game of a day/night doubleheader.

The Reds had lost the day’s first game, 5-4, their fourth straight loss during which they totaled seven runs. But in Game Two, a seven-inning affair, they scored in double figures for the 19th time this season.

Castellanos banged a two-run homer in the first inning and a grand slam during a seven-run Cincinnati second inning.

The bat was one he used even after hitting a ball off the end the last game in Miami on Sunday, chipping off a piece.

After the grand slam, St. Louis manager Mike Shildt asked the umpires

to check the bat for legality. Castellanos already had given the bat to a kid behind the dugout.

He retrieved it and gave it to the umpires. The four arbiters huddled, then checked with New York. The bat was declared legal.

Asked how he saw the bat affair play out, Castellanos said, “My view was that was my second homer and I drove in six and all of a sudden there was an issue. There was no issue when Jon Lester carved me up (in Monday’s 3-1 loss). And there was no issue in the first game today.

“Then there was an issue,” he said. “My Opening Day homer against them my bat had a chunk out of it because the same thing happened to the bat in spring training.”

As for why it happened, Castellanos said, “He (Shildt) was trying to do everything he can to make his team have the best chance to win. He was checking a bat that drove in six runs that put us ahead.”

After the umpires checked New York for the bat’s legality, they gave it back to Castellanos, “And I decided to give this dangerous piece of lumber to some lucky kid that was sitting above the dugout. So in the end of the day everybody wins.”

Not the Cardinals. They fell back to 2 1/2 games behind the Reds for the second wild card spot. And the San Diego Padres lost in Arizona and are a half-game behind the Reds.

“It is no secret that every game down the stretch is a push for the wild card,” said Castellanos. “We’re aware of it, the city of Cincinnati is aware of it, the media is aware of it. . .so we need to do a good job and win every game we play.”

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead when leadoff hitter Tommy Edman homered off Reds starter Sonny Gray.

The Reds were facing left-hander J.A. Happ, who was 3-0 with a 2.22 earned run average after the Cardinals acquired him from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline.

Jonathan India said hello with a leadoff double and one out later Castellanos made it 2-1. Joey Votto walked, and Eugenio Suarez hit one off the top of the wall. It was ruled a home run, but a review revealed it hit the top of the wall and Votto was placed on third and Suarez on second. Neither scored.

But the second inning was total carnage. The first three Reds singled to load the bases and Castellanos unloaded them with his seventh career grand slam.

His six RBI in the first two innings are the most by a player in the first two innings since RBI became a stat in 1920.

The Reds scored three more in the second on Kyle Farmer’s two-run home run and an RBI double by Delino DeShields Jr., making his first start since he was acquired via trade Tuesday with the Boston Red Sox.

Suarez made certain there would be no doubt about a home run in the fifth when he launched one into the upper deck to give the Reds an even dozen runs.

Gray, more than appreciative of the run explosion, gave up another home run in the fourth to Nolan Arenado, but that’s it. He pitched five innings and gave up just the two hits, both homers.

“Once we had the big inning and the big lead, I just tried to stay in the (strike) zone,” said Gray. “I just gave them a lot of challenge heaters. If they were going to beat me, they were going to have to beat me in the zone. I just tried to throw a lot of fat pitches over the plate and challenged, challenged, challenged. And that was it.”

And that was it to a four-game losing streak.

FRIDAY’S GAME

Tigers at Reds, 7:10 p.m., Bally Sports Ohio, 700, 1410