Frank Castillo admitted that he was a bit surprised to see Jim Essian emerge from the dugout Friday with only two outs left in the Cubs` 5-2 victory over Houston.
A Wrigley Field crowd of 33,772 wasn`t exactly surprised. Outraged would better describe the mood. Even before the manager reached the foul line, the fans let loose a loud salvo of boos.
If Castillo lost a no-hitter in the sixth inning, they seemed to be saying, at least let him earn a complete game.
But Essian figured the rookie had gone far enough when he yielded a one-out walk to Jeff Bagwell after a leadoff bunt single by Steve Finley. So he called on Paul Assenmacher to save Castillo`s victory over the last-place Astros.
The boos were an obvious sign that Cubs fans, ordinarily a forgiving lot, had grown tired of watching the bullpen set leads afire.
”Our bullpen has not been doing the job, and the fans are tired of it,” Essian said. ”They let it be known that they thought it was a mistake.”
Then Essian tried to put a positive spin on a negative experience. ”I think they`ve also taken to Frank,” he said.
Castillo was one of three heroes. Doug Dascenzo set a National League record by playing his 227th straight errorless game in the outfield. Though he didn`t handle a chance, Dascenzo moved past former St. Louis great Curt Flood. Another hero was Jose Vizcaino. Subbing for the slightly injured Shawon Dunston, he clicked off four hits and has three doubles and two singles in his last five at-bats. Vizcaino`s batting average climbed 35 points to .317.
But the star of the day was Castillo, whose arrival has coincided with a revival of the rotation.
Castillo teased the crowd by carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He`d been helped by some home-cooked official scoring in the fourth inning. With one out, Bagwell hit a bouncer into the hole between short and third. Vizcaino couldn`t pick up the ball, and the play was ruled an error.
”I didn`t realize they gave that an error,” Castillo said. ”I thought they gave that a hit. That kind of made it easier because I wasn`t thinking about (the no-hitter).”
When he went to the mound in the sixth, Castillo needed 12 outs. But any dream of glory ended when Casey Candaele, the eighth batter in a light-hitting lineup, belted a drive over right-fielder Andre Dawson`s head for a clean double. Castillo`s no-hitter was over, and so was his shutout when All-Star Craig Biggio banged a single to left field two outs later.
”He`s 22?” Candaele said when told Castillo`s age. ”He pitches more like he`s 32.”
Those hits only seemed to make Castillo tougher. After the Astros scored, he retired seven straight men until Finley bunted his way on to open the ninth. Two batters later, Castillo was yanked and went back to the dugout to soak in his second major-league win.
”I`m just excited,” Castillo said. ”To tell you the truth, I`m just going game by game, inning by inning, pitch by pitch. I`m not even thinking about what`s going on.”
What`s going on is a fairly impressive career-opening run. Beginning with his tough debut June 27 in Pittsburgh, Castillo has pitched into the ninth inning three times in four starts and lasted seven innings the other time.
In 32 1/3 innings, he has allowed only 24 hits and six walks while striking out 21. His earned-run average is 2.78.
Castillo already has one complete game, more than every Cubs starter but Greg Maddux. Two in four starts would have been a rousing achievement, but he said he didn`t try to change Essian`s mind.
”I`m only a rookie,” he said.
