Diego Castillo homers off Gerrit Cole but Yankees blast five bombs to beat Pirates

TAMPA — Diego Castillo has gone about his business quietly in spring training, making a positive impression on the Pittsburgh Pirates while bouncing around the infield and making consistent contact.

When New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole grooved an outside fastball, Castillo drove it over the right-field fence for a two-run homer in the second inning Sunday afternoon in a Grapefruit League game at at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

“I know he’s one of the best in the big leagues,” Castillo said. “I was just enjoying my moment at home plate, trying to find a good pitch to hit, waiting for something happening, and it happened. Feels super good.”

Crushed by Castillo. pic.twitter.com/luGa8uaXtI

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 27, 2022

That it came in a 7-4 loss to his former team mattered little to Castillo, a 24-year-old Venezuelan who was acquired along with Hoy Park from the Yankees last July in the Clay Holmes trade.

“Not really,” Castillo said. “It’s exciting playing a game against my old team, but it’s the same baseball. Go out there and play 100%, enjoying every moment.”

After batting .278 with 19 homers and 55 RBIs while splitting last season between Double-A — with Somerset and Altoona — and Triple-A Indianapolis, Castillo was on his way to the beach last fall when he was surprised to learn the Pirates added to him to their 40-man roster.

Castillo is a long shot to make the cut for the Opening Day roster, but Pirates manager Derek Shelton said before the game that Castillo has made a “really good impression” in spring training, where he started at third base against the Yankees and has played shortstop and second base.

“He’s had really good at-bats, good swings,” Shelton said. “If you hit the ball to Diego, he catches it, and that’s a really positive thing. For a guy who can play multiple positions, he’s taken good swings.”

Castillo was one of three players acquired from the Yankees in trades involving pitchers who did damage against their former team, as Canaan Smith-Njigba (Jameson Taillon) and Hoy Park (Holmes) both singled.

Castillo’s homer was overshadowed by moonshots by Yankees stars Josh Donaldson (418 feet) and Aaron Judge, who went deep twice (407, 382). The Yankees homered three times off Pirates started Jose Quintana and twice off JT Brubaker.

Donaldson drilled a 1-1 changeup 418 feet over the left-center fence for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

After Cole walked leadoff batter Roberto Perez to start the second inning, he faced Pirates top prospect Oneil Cruz. The 6-foot-7 Cruz dug swung so hard on his second cut that his cleats dug into the dirt as he twisted, and his helmet fell off. On the next pitch, Cole got Cruz swinging at a fastball low and away for the strikeout.

Cole had no such luck with Castillo, who drove a 1-1 fastball to right for a 2-1 lead. Cole surrendered another homer, this one on a changeup that Cole Tucker turned into a leadoff blast to right field to give the Pirates a 3-1 edge. It was Tucker’s second homer of spring training, with both coming against the Yankees.

It's a Cole world, after all. pic.twitter.com/l55rvu6e4m

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 27, 2022

Bryan Reynolds reached on an error by second baseman Marwin Gonzalez and scored on a single to center by Park. That’s when the Yankees pulled Cole, who allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out five. The Yankees added homers by Kyle Higashioka, Judge and Gonzalez to pull away.

“It’s tough. It’s hard. They have a really good lineup, and I feel at this time it’s really good to see where you’re at right now and how you go compete with these guys, and it is what it is,” Quintana said. “That’s what happens when you miss your spots. It’s the big leagues, and we’re here to get the best chance we can for the season, and it’s really good to face things like that.”

Notes: Following the game, the Pirates optioned outfielders Jared Oliva and Smith-Njigba to Triple-A Indianapolis and reassigned first baseman Mason Martin and outfielder Cal Mitchell to minor league camp. The Pirates now have 43 active players in major league camp. … The Pirates are off Monday, then host the Boston Red Sox at 1:05 p.m. Tuesday at LECOM Park in Bradenton.