PHOENIX (AP) — Rodolfo Castro got the call-up and dropped a call in his return to the big leagues.
The Pittsburgh infielder lost his phone during a slide into third base and the Pirates lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 on Tuesday night.
“I don’t think there’s any professional ballplayer that would ever go out there with any intentions of taking a cellphone,” Castro told Pittsburgh media members through an interpreter. “It’s horrible it happened to me. Obviously, it was very unintentional.”
Rookie Tommy Henry (1-1) was sharp in his Chase Field debut, allowing a run on four hits in seven innings for his first big league win.
Castro made a different kind of noise after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis — with his phone.
The second-year second baseman walked in the fourth inning and went to third on Oneil Cruz’s single. Castro slid headfirst into the bag to beat the throw and the impact sent his phone flying from his back pocket.
Third base umpire Adam Hamari immediately saw the phone and pointed to it on the ground. The 23-year-old Castro picked up the phone and handed it to Pirates third base coach Mike Rebelo, who had an exasperated look on his face before taking it.
Castro said he put his oven mitt-like sliding glove in his pocket and forgot about the phone.
“You stay around the game and you see things you haven’t seen before,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “This was just a kid who made a mistake. It’s just one of those things we move fowrard from and tell him, ‘You can’t do that.’”
Major League Baseball has cracked down on technology being used on the field since the Houston Astros used live TV feeds to steal opposing teams’ signs during their run to the 2017 World Series championship and part of the 2018 season.
Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A. J. Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season. The Astros also were fined $5 million and forfeited their first- and second-round picks in 2020 and 2021.
Castro might want to keep his phone close by on Wednesday in case MLB decides it wants to impose some penalty.
“My first day back, if I was to be the center of attention, I would want it to be helping the team win, but never in this form,” Castro said. “This is definitely something that was an accident, a mistake, something I’m going to learn from. But definitely something I didn’t mean to happen.”
Mark Melancon worked around a walk in the ninth for his 16th save. Zach Thompson (3-9) took the loss.
Michael Chavis hit two home runs for the Pirates.
HENRY’S NIGHT
Henry had an uneven big league debut against Washington on Aug. 3, allowing four runs on four hits in five innings.
The rookie left-hander was efficient in his first big-league home game, keeping the Pirates off-balance until Chavis hit a solo homer in the sixth inning.
“I felt significantly different,” he said. “I felt like I could breathe a little bit today, settling a little bit. And I think that comes with being more familiar with everyone, familiar with the routine.”
Chavis also hit a two-run homer off Chris Devenski in the eighth inning to pull Pittsburgh within 6-4.
THOMPSON’S TURN
Thompson was shaky his previous two starts, allowing 14 runs in 11 innings. The right-hander was back on track against the Diamondbacks, allowing two runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
DIAMONDBACKS MOVES
Arizona recalled OF Cooper Hummel and optioned C Jose Herrera to Triple-A Reno.
Hummel, who primarily played outfield in his first stint with Arizona, will back up catcher Carson Kelly. Hummel hit .171 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 50 games with the Diamondbacks earlier in his rookie season.
Herrera hit .189 with five RBIs in 47 games with the Diamondbacks.
PIRATES MOVES
The Pirates optioned OF Cal Mitchell to Triple-A Indianapolis when they called up Castro. Mitchell hit .204 with four homers in 44 games with Pittsburgh.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks LHP Madison Bumgarner (6-10, 3.96 ERA) is 4-1 with a 3.44 ERA his last six home starts heading into Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh RHP Mitch Keller (3-8, 4.21).
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