Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler throws to the plate during the first inning of Friday’s game against the Reds in Cincinnati. The Dodgers lost, 3-1. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo throws to the plate during the first inning of Friday’s game against the Dodgers in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts stands in the dugout during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a double in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts slides into second base with a double during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts runs the bases during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts reacts from second base during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Dodgers’ Walker Buehler throws during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Jesse Winker of the Cincinnati Reds pops out in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Walker Buehler prepares to throw during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won, 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Reds’ Luis Castillo fields a ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers’ Trea Turner, who was out at first during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Luis Castillo #58 of the Cincinnati Reds reacts after recording a strikeout in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler throws to the plate during the first inning of Friday’s game against the Reds in Cincinnati. The Dodgers lost, 3-1. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Jonathan India of the Cincinnati Reds hits a single in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers tags out Joey Votto #19 of the Cincinnati Reds in the fourth inning at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Trea Turner #6 of the Los Angeles Dodgers breaks his bat hitting a single in the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Kyle Farmer #17 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a double in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Reds’ Joey Votto heads home to score during the sixth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Reds’ Tucker Barnhart hits an RBI single during the fifth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Max Schrock #32 and Kyle Farmer #17 of the Cincinnati Reds celebrate after Farmer scored a run in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Kyle Farmer #17 of the Cincinnati Reds celebrates with teammates after scoring a run in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Trea Turner #6 of the Los Angeles Dodgers attempts to turn a double play past Tucker Barnhart #16 of the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth inning at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Albert Pujols stands in the dugout during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Luis Castillo #58 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts bats during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts runs the bases during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Luis Castillo #58 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Justin Turner bats during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Manager David Bell of the Cincinnati Reds relieves Luis Castillo #58 in the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Reds’ Luis Castillo gestures as he leaves during the seventh inning of the team’s baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw stands in the dugout during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Reds’ Joey Votto reacts to a call while he bats during a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers catches a pop fly near the netting in the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Corey Seager bats during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Jesse Winker #33 of the Cincinnati Reds leaves the game after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Will Smith, right, slaps hands with Albert Pujols after scoring a run during the ninth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The Reds won 3-1. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Reds relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen, left, celebrates with catcher Tucker Barnhart after their 3-1 victory over the Dodgers on Friday night in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
The Cincinnati Reds celebrate after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 at Great American Ball Park on September 17, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI — This is why you don’t want to be in a wild-card playoff game. It’s just one game – but the psyche-soothing mantra of a long regular season turns into a venomous snake, one bite capable of turning fatal.
Ten starts into his season, Cincinnati Reds right-hander Luis Castillo had a league-high 7.61 ERA. Going into Friday’s start against the Dodgers, Castillo had taken enough lumps to wear an MLB-leading 15 losses.
But he pitched like the ace he is supposed to be Friday, holding the Dodgers scoreless into the seventh inning while striking out 10 in a 3-1 victory over the Dodgers.
Former Dodger Kyle Farmer had his hand in all three Reds runs. He led off the fifth with a double and scored their first run then drove in two with a second double off Walker Buehler an inning later.
“I don’t think we need any reminders,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the potential danger of a one-game wild-card scenario. “We know how important every game is. We’re trying to win every game. It just didn’t happen tonight. We know what’s at stake every night.”
The Reds had lost five of their seven games before Friday night but are still in a three-way fight with the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild-card spot. Reds manager David Bell was asked if Friday’s Castillo-Walker Buehler matchup felt like the kind of duel that might fit a wild-card game.
“That is getting ahead a little bit,” Bell said. “But I like it. I love the thought. That’s the goal for us and I do believe it’s good to know where we’re headed and believe in that and continue to have that vision.”
The Dodgers’ vision remains trained on the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants. They had pulled within a game of the Giants before Friday, but the deficit is now two games after the Giants rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves in 11 innings later Friday night. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Dodgers, who seemed to recover their offensive mojo during an unbeaten homestand against the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Castillo’s early-season struggles started on Opening Day when the Cardinals thumped him for 10 runs in just 3-1/3 innings. By midseason, he was still trying to work that off his tab. Batters were hitting .328 off him with an OPS over .900 and the Reds had lost nine of his 10 starts.
In his past 21 starts, though, Castillo has been the kind of starter who gets charged with extending a team’s season – he has a 2.79 ERA and has held opposing batters to a .221 average while striking out 136 in 129 innings.
That’s the version of Castillo the Dodgers got to face.
“That’s what he does. He’s obviously got a good fastball and a really, really good changeup,” Buehler said. “I think it’s pretty well known that he’s one of the most talented guys in the league. It was a good night for him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep us in it.”
Combining a fastball that touched 100 mph with a changeup that produced 11 of his 19 swings-and-misses, Castillo gave up a leadoff double to Mookie Betts then just one other ball out of the infield in the first five innings.
“The changeup was really good today,” Castillo said through an interpreter. “I felt I could throw it in whatever count or whatever situation I wanted to. I felt a lot of confidence in my changeup and it really helped out today.”
Castillo’s pitch mix led to some overaggressive swings by the Dodgers, Roberts said.
“Castillo was really good,” Roberts said. “It’s fastball-changeup, mix in a slider once in a while. I just thought that we just chased at times and expanded when we shouldn’t have. Obviously, it’s a lot easier to say than to do.
“He’s got really good stuff. When you’re upper-90s and you have a ball that presents as a strike then gets off the plate, misses barrels … he did a great job of keeping us at bay tonight.”
Buehler was right there with him for most of that time. He allowed just one ball to be hit out of the infield in the first four innings. But Farmer led off the fifth with his first double and scored on a soft single to center field by Tucker Barnhart.
An inning later, two singles and a two-out double by Farmer made it a 3-0 lead for the Reds.
“I love a lot of guys over there,” said Farmer, who came up with the Dodgers and spent time in the big leagues with them in 2017 and 2018 – none of it spent at shortstop, where he has become the Reds’ everyday starter. “They’re great friends of mine, great teammates. Some of the best friends I’ve ever had. But I love playing them. The intensity level seems a little different playing against them.”
The Dodgers chased Castillo in the seventh with a one-out single by Matt Beaty (and a pitch count of 111). But reliever Luis Cessa got warning-track fly outs by Chris Taylor and Betts to end that inning and retired the side in order in the eighth (with another fly to the warning track by Corey Seager).
The Dodgers finally got on the board in the ninth against Michael Lorenzen. After Will Smith was hit by a pitch, he moved to second on a groundout and scored on a two-out RBI single by Beaty. Pinch-hitter Albert Pujols lined out to end the game.
“Regardless of how you’re going, Castillo’s got really good stuff and he’s going to present challenges,” Roberts said. “If he’s on, he’s going to be tough. You knew runs were going to be hard to come by tonight.
“I think in its entirety recently we’ve been swinging the bats well, having good approaches, team offense. Tonight, I think you have to give credit to Castillo but also I think we got away from our approach.”
