 pitched six innings and was charged with one run, four hits and a walk while lowering his ERA to 1.47. After Eric Hosmer (three hits, two RBIs) homered in the second inning, only one other Padres player reached scoring position.Castillo battled with his fastball command the first couple of innings, falling behind batters but never really falling out of sorts. When he found his aim, the Padres couldn't counter.''I made some adjustments,'' Castillo said through a translator. ''Even without your best stuff you have to go out there and compete.'' Added Padres manager Andy Green: ''You've got to give him some credit. That fastball was moving a mile and that change-up has real depth and a bottom to it.'' Raisel Iglesias got the last three outs for his fourth save, striking out the side. It gave him nine straight strikeouts in his last three outings.''He has the velocity and the slider,'' Bell said. ''It's all there.'' Rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. had his first career triple to lead off the eighth inning, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Manny Machado walked and Hosmer drove in Tatis, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Wil Myers grounded out to end the inning.Eric Lauer (2-3) pitched five innings, giving up three runs and six hits, with two walks. Lauer struck out five and lost for the third time in four starts.''I think I'm just sometimes running into a little bad luck,'' Lauer said. ''But you've got to create your own luck at some point.'' Winker's fourth career pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning gave the Reds a 4-1 lead. Winker leads the Reds with six home runs.Lauer led the majors last season with 10 pickoffs. But when he tried to catch Eugenio Suarez, who walked to start the fifth inning, his erratic throw produced a two-base error. Yasiel Puig then drove in Suarez with a sacrifice fly for 3-1 advantage.In the fourth inning, Scott Schebler and Kyle Farmer reached on hits and Tucker Barnhart had an RBI single to give the Reds as 2-1 lead.Hosmer tied the game at 1 in the second with his second homer of the season.The Reds struck in the first when Jose Peraza, who batted leadoff for the first time and ended a career-worst 0-for-24 streak with a single, scored on a single by Jose Iglesias.While the Reds have found their grove the struggling Padres (11-11) reached the break-even mark and that has erased a promising start.''It's a weird way to get to .500 to start the season,'' Green said. ''It's baseball.'' TRAINER'S ROOMReds: 1B Joey Votto (back) was out of the lineup, but expected to play in Sunday's series finale.UP NEXTReds: RHP Tyler Mahle (0-1, 2.65), who's been among the top rookie pitchers this season, is scheduled to make his fourth start.Padres: LHP Joey Lucchesi (2-2, 4.40) is expected to start. He is looking to snap a two-game losing streak.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Reds, Padres struggling to find their offensive grooves Before Friday night's game at Petco Park in San Diego, rival managers David Bell of the Cincinnati Reds and Andy Green of the Padres spoke optimistically about their struggling offenses."I think we're ready to snap out of it," said Bell, whose team had lost four games in a row before defeating the Padres 4-1 in Thursday night's series opener."We know they will come around," Green said of the Padres' offense. "We know there are a lot of guys in the lineup right now who aren't sitting at the numbers that we know they are eventually going to be at. We trust people. We trust players with track records. Some days, taking a breather (is) the best thing to do. There is no magic formula."Ultimately, we're one day away from really clicking as an offense and to have things take off. Players want to get results." Well, it didn't happen Friday night as the two teams combined for five runs on eight hits against 20 strikeouts over 11 innings, with the Reds handing the Padres a fifth straight loss, 3-2.Cincinnati will go for its third straight win in the four-game series Saturday night with right-hander Luis Castillo (1-1, 1.46 ERA) starting for the Reds against Padres left-hander Eric Lauer (2-2, 4.91 ERA). It will be the fifth start of the season for both pitchers.The task might be daunting for the Padres, given the present state of their offense. They have 30 hits over their five straight losses.Their team batting average is .221 -- better than the Reds' .192, good for last place in the National League.Castillo has given up four runs on nine hits and 13 walks with 32 strikeouts over 24 2/3 innings this season to continue a run that started last Sept. 1. Over his past nine appearances, the 26-year-old is 4-2 and leads all major-league starting pitchers with a 1.25 ERA - giving up eight runs on 29 hits in 57 2/3 innings with 21 walks and 66 strikeouts. During the run, opposing hitters have batted .149.And opposing hitters are batting just .114 against Castillo this season. He opened the season by becoming only the third starting pitcher since 1983 to strike out eight or more hitters while allowing two or fewer hits in three consecutive starts."Luis is as good as anyone in the game right now," Bell said.Castillo will be making his fourth career start against the Padres. He is 0-2 with a 5.17 ERA against the Padres, allowing 12 runs (nine earned) on 17 hits and four walks with 14 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings.The Padres have hit .270 against Castillo with both wins coming last season. Padres Hunter Renfroe and Francisco Mejia each have two homers off Mejia while Wil Myers has one.Lauer has allowed 12 runs on 21 hits and four walks over 16 innings in his last three starts after pitching six innings of four-hit, shutout ball on Opening Day. His ERA has climbed in each of his last three starts."A couple of times, I thought he was one pitch away from a really good outing," said Green of Lauer, who has given up four homers in his past three games.Lauer made two starts against the Reds as a rookie in 2018 and was 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA, allowing one run on seven hits and five walks with 12 strikeouts over nine innings. The Reds hit .219 against Lauer.--Field Level Media
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