Luis Castillo takes the mound for the first time since his pre-deadline trade to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday in the series finale against the surging Red Sox in Boston.
Castillo (3-9, 5.06 ERA) joined the White Sox in a Saturday trade with the Seattle Mariners, where the three-time All-Star had been unable to match his previous success so far this season. His new squad still has a three-game lead atop the American League Central, but Chicago looks to avoid a second sweep against Boston this season after taking a 4-0 loss on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old veteran had gone four straight outings without a win, including a no-decision on July 28 against the host Los Angeles Dodgers in which he allowed five runs on 11 hits over five innings. Seattle wound up winning 7-6 in what would be Castillo’s last appearance with the Mariners.
“This is the sixth time that I’ve been traded, so nothing new for me,” Castillo said. “Different team, different jersey, but the same energy. I could see that this was a team that liked to fight, liked to compete. It’s a bunch of kids and they’re hungry to win.”
Castillo is 2-3 with a 5.34 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against the Red Sox.
On Wednesday, the White Sox were shut out for the eighth time this season and held to just four hits by Boston’s Sonny Gray — now a 14-game winner — and three relievers. Miguel Vargas was 2-for-3 with a walk to lead the way, but it was not nearly enough.
Chicago has lost seven of the past 12 games. A 14-2 blowout loss preceded the Wednesday shutout against the Red Sox.
“Pretty good spanking we took,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of the series opener.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are on another seven-game win streak and have gone a franchise-best 25-3 since July 3. Their latest win required only seven hits from the offense, but Wilyer Abreu reached the 20-homer plateau with a two-out solo shot in the third inning.
Abreu has homered four times across three consecutive games. He set a career-high mark with 22 last season.
“I’m not looking to hit 30 homers or anything like that. I’m just trying to play baseball,” said Abreu, in his fourth major league season. “Whatever God has planned for me this season, I’m going to be happy with it. I’m just trying to stay healthy, be on the field every day and whatever happens, happens.”
It was not just another night with a long ball for Abreu. He finished 2-for-3, walked, scored three runs and stole a base.
“I think he’s very aware of his swing and when that thing gets short and compact, it gets really, really loud,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said.
As a team, the Red Sox have now homered in nine straight games and have shut out their opponent on 11 occasions this season. Wednesday’s win clinched their ninth straight series.
Ranger Suarez (4-3, 3.15) is set for his third start since returning from a left groin strain in late July, seeing a limited workload during that span.
He worked 4 2/3 innings and a no-decision last Friday in a 9-4 win against the host Dodgers. The left-hander had thrown only 65 pitches before being pulled with Shohei Ohtani due up for a third time.
Suarez has never started against the White Sox in his career, though he faced them in one relief appearance and threw a scoreless inning in 2019 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
–Field Level Media
