Castro’s single in the 10th inning Saturday night gave the Cubs a walkoff victory. And he did it again Sunday night in the 11th inning, a 2-1 Cubs win.
And perhaps it shouldn’t have been Sunday night.
When Castro came to bat in the 11th inning of a tie game, the Cubs had a runner on second with one out
Doesn’t that call for an intentional walk to set up an inning-ending double play, especially with Mike Baxter due up after Castro?
Baxter was 0 for 4 with four strikeouts and Cubs manager Joe Maddon was out of position players.
But the Reds chose to pitch to Castro and he ripped a game-ending hit to left center field off relief pitcher Burke Badenhop.
Of course, it never should have gone 11 innings. The Reds, the worst team in baseball with runners in scoring position, were 1 for 12 in that category and left a runner on third base five times.
And the ninth inning was a microcosm of the entire season. The Reds loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth against Jason Motte. And didn’t score.
Brayan Pena flied to shallow center, Eugenio Suarez struck out and Kristopher Negron flied to center.
Starters Anthony DeSclafani, seeking his fourth straight win, and Jon Lester dueled nicely early in the game. DeSclafani pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up one run and six hits. Lester pitched seven and gave up one run and five hits.
And wouldn’t you think that on a night when Billy Hamilton stole a career-best five bases that the Reds would score some runs?
He did score the only run when he singled off Lester in the sixth inning. Lester has the throwing yips on pickoff throws, so he won’t throw over to first base. He had done it only twice in his career.
So Hamilton stole second easily and stole third without a throw. And he scored on a bloop single by Brandon Phillips.
Joey Votto then doubled to left center and Phillips tried to score from first. He was called safe at home, but the Cubs asked for a replay and the call was reversed and Phillips was ruled out.
The Cub scored off DeSclafani in the seventh. Catcher David Ross, a former Red, was hitting .151 but doubled down the left field line to open the inning.
Pinch-hitter Jonathan Herrera bunted Ross to third and Dexter Fowler, hitting .135 with runners in scoring position, hit a fly ball deep enough to right field to score Ross and tie it.
And wouldn’t you think the Reds might win when Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo goes 0 for 5 and 0 for 16 over the last three games?
Badenhop struck him out to end the 10th. But with one out in the 11th, Chris Coghlan lined one down the left-field line. Negron dove and nearly caught it, but the ball glanced off his glove and went for a double.
That set it up for Castro to strike down the Reds for the second straight night and provide the Cubs with their 12th win of the season in their last at bat, tops in the majors.
The Cubs took three of four in the Wrigley Field series and have beaten the Reds five of the seven games played this year.
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