Luis Castillo strikes out 10 as the Chicago White Sox blank the Cincinnati Reds 5-0

CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Castillo struck out 10 in seven sparkling innings, helping the Chicago White Sox beat Rhett Lowder and the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 on Wednesday night.

Castillo allowed one hit — Sal Stewart’s single in the first — and walked two in his first win with Chicago. The right-hander, acquired in an Aug. 1 trade with Seattle, was tagged for five runs over four innings in his White Sox debut at Boston last week.

Castillo (4-9) matched his longest outing of the season one day after Chicago blew a 4-0 lead during a 5-4 loss in the series opener.

Chase Meidroth and Drew Romo homered as the AL Central leaders won for the third time in four games. Sam Antonacci had three hits.

Lowder (4-8) was charged with two runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 3.22 ERA in his last four starts.

Lowder was pulled after Colson Montgomery’s single in the sixth. Meidroth greeted Julian Garcia with a drive to left field for his 12th homer, giving the White Sox a 3-0 lead.

Romo went deep in the third, capping a 10-pitch at-bat with his first homer since May 25 and No. 6 on the year. He also singled home Montgomery in the eighth.

Castillo, who began his big league career with Cincinnati in 2017, helped himself with a nice play on TJ Friedl’s two-out bunt in the fifth. Tristan Peters also made a leaping catch at the wall on Matt McLain’s drive to left-center in the third.

Hagen Smith handled the eighth for Chicago before Huascar Brazobán finished the two-hitter.

White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami extended his on-base streak to 27 games with a two-out walk in the fifth. He is tied with Cleveland’s Steven Kwan for the longest active streak in the majors.

Up next

Left-hander Andrew Abbott (6-7, 3.92 ERA) starts for Cincinnati in Thursday’s series finale, and right-hander Davis Martin (9-6, 4.17) pitches for Chicago.

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