After struggling amid Pirates' losing streak, Rodolfo Castro gets redemption with homer

When Rodolfo Castro hit Kyle Freeland’s belt-high fastball, he knew that it had a chance. Then again, the Pittsburgh Pirates infielder hit the ball to left-center, the deepest part of PNC Park.

So there was a moment of uncertainty as it sailed toward the bullpen and just over the outstretched glove of Colorado Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle and cleared the fence Monday night.

“I knew I hit it well, but knowing this ballpark, how big it is, you always have that little bit of doubt,” Castro said through translator Stephen Morales. “I knew from the beginning that I hit it good. It was just a matter if it was going to go out or not.”

Castro’s two-run home run in the seventh inning didn’t just break a scoreless tie and help the Pirates to a 2-0 win that snapped their seven-game losing streak. It served as a moment of redemption for Castro, who had struggled throughout the skid.

Rodolfo Castro - Pittsburgh Pirates (4) pic.twitter.com/WGYYZNamY8

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) May 9, 2023

Pirates starter Mitch Keller was pumped when Rodolfo Castro hit a two-run home run to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning of Monday’s 2-0 win over the Rockies. pic.twitter.com/zqNdPtrH5p

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 9, 2023

The 23-year-old Dominican drew a difficult task in being asked to switch to shortstop after starter Oneil Cruz fractured his left ankle on April 9. Castro slashed .317/.417/.533 with four doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs in 18 games from April 10-29, as the Pirates got off to a 20-8 start and had the best record in the National League.

Then Castro struggled over the next seven games, batting .125 (2 for 16) with seven strikeouts and one walk while making mistakes in the field and on the basepaths.

After Castro made errors in back-to-back games against Toronto – giving him six in 22 games at shortstop and seven for the season – the Pirates selected the contract of 31-year-old Chris Owings on Monday. For the series opener against the Rockies, Owings started at shortstop while Castro moved back to second base.

“He’s really young. He’s talented. He’s working hard. He cares,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said of Castro. “We’re just gonna continue to support him and help him continue to get better and get his work done. He’s made outstanding plays and, you know, every once in a while, mistakes are gonna happen. It’s part of the game. He’ll recover from that, we’ll recover from it, keep pushing it forward.

“His role changed in the middle of the season and as a young player, that’s not the easiest thing to do. He’s an important part of what we’re doing and is going to continue to play a lot. We know it’ll keep getting better.”

That it got worse before it got better is a sign of Castro’s ability to deal with adversity. Castro played well defensively, as he caught an Elias Diaz lineout to second for the final out in the fourth and turned a 4-6-3 double play in the top of the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, Castro drew a one-out walk and advanced to second base on Jack Suwinski’s bloop single to left. With Owings facing a 3-2 count against Freeland, Pirates manager Derek Shelton called for a hit and run. Owings whiffed on Freeland’s 3-2 slider and Castro got a late jump before sliding safe into third.

Or so he thought.

The Rockies challenged the call and walked off the field, not even waiting for a video review. Replays showed that Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon tagged Castro out as he slid head-first into the bag, and it was overturned. Instead of having a strong scoring chance with runners on second and third, the inning was over.

“That’s not his fault. That’s on me,” Shelton said. “I’m making the assumption we’re gonna get contact, and we’re gonna try and stay out of the double play. Three-two, that’s not a straight steal. We just didn’t get contact.”

Castro concentrated on keeping his head up and staying positive.

“Stuff like that is going to happen,” Castro said. “You definitely feel bad when stuff like that happens, but you have to put it behind you and concentrate on the next at-bat, next play, next inning to try to help the team.”

Castro got his chance to do that in the seventh, after Connor Joe hit a flare off the end of his bat that dropped in shallow right for a single. Castro crushed Freeland’s second pitch, a 90-mph fastball, driving it 406 feet at an exit velocity of 102.2 mph for his fourth homer of the season.

⚾Rodolfo Castro! HR (4)

5/8/23 @ PIT, ⬇️ 7th
vs LHP Kyle Freeland

102.2 MPH / 31° / 406 ft to CF
Off a 90.1 MPH four-seam fb

▶️It's a home run in 9/30 parks.◀️

See this play in Gameday: https://t.co/qxX7BnPJDD pic.twitter.com/IZMdbBorOR

— Home Run Report (@homerunreport) May 9, 2023

“The one thing we’ve seen with Rudy is that he accepts challenges and continues to go,” Shelton said. “It’s one of those things where you think, ‘All right, we need one thing to just kind of take the air out of it a little bit.’ Rudy did a good job with it.”

Pirates starter Mitch Keller, who pitched his first career complete-game shutout, said the home dugout came alive when Castro’s line drive cleared the fence. Castro raised his right arm and extended his index finger into the air, pointing to the crowd as he rounded the bases.

“Just to have him come through in the clutch like that was huge,” Keller said. “It just revived our dugout a little bit.”

Castro then made a pair of routine plays in the field to help clinch the victory. He fielded a Harold Castro grounder for the first out of the eighth inning and a Kris Bryant grounder for the final out of the game.

But it was Castro’s homer that Keller called “unbelievable.”

“I’m grateful to be the guy who can help the team get the win after a rough seven games,” Castro said. “I just feel pretty proud. I thank God that I was the guy that could put the team on top to come up with the win.”