Chicago Cubs: No mercy for the Reds this weekend

Beating Castillo

If the Chicago Cubs could make a good showing against pitcher, Luis Castillo, chances are the rest of the Reds will fall in place. The Reds have leaned hard on their superstar’s arm, and he has produced. Against the Cubs, Castillo had a 1.90 ERA and earlier against the San Francisco Giants had a 1.76 ERA. Only the San Diego Padres, New York Mets and Giants have hit a single home run against the pitcher for a total of three this season – that’s it!

What is most interesting is that two of the three teams that did homer off of Castillo won their game against the Reds. Could home run hitting be the magic bullet against Castillo and the Reds? Certainly, the Reds are relying on Castillo as their major weapon.

"“He’s unreal, man,” said Reds reliever Amir Garrett, who struck out the side in the seventh inning. “That changeup he has, I can’t even describe it. I feel bad for hitters because you literally have no shot.”"

It seems the only ‘shot’ that teams have is racking up some dingers on the board when facing Castillo. Don’t get me wrong; the Cubs are facing a team that is playing good ball ‘together.’ Without a lot of heroes on the field, it’s been solid defensive teamwork and opportunity hitting that has the Reds knocking off the best teams in their Division. So how do the Cubs win?