PITTSBURGH -- Rusney Castillo, the 27-year-old center fielder from Ciego de Avila, Cuba, who last month signed a seven-year, $72.5 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, went 1-for-4 in his major league debut Wednesday night, a 9-1 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park.
Batting seventh in the lineup, Castillo tapped out in front of the plate in the second inning in his first at-bat. Then in the fourth, he beat out a ground ball that struck the heel of second baseman Neil Walker's glove, Walker unable to pick up the ball cleanly fast enough to make a play.
Castillo's first two at-bats came against Pirates veteran left-hander Francisco Liriano. In the seventh, batting against left-hander Justin Wilson, Castillo flied to center. His final at-bat came in the ninth, when he grounded to short on the first pitch he saw from right-hander Jeanmar Gomez.
"I'm pretty satisfied with that being my first game; obviously you would like a better outcome in terms of winning the game, but I was pretty satisfied with my overall approach and the way I stepped in today and had some results," Castillo said through translator Adrian Lorenzo.
Castillo signed the largest contract ever awarded to an international amateur on Aug. 23, then completed a three-week apprenticeship in the Sox minor league system. Before that, he hadn't played a game in 14 months, since he participated in a provincial tournament near his hometown in Cuba. Even so, he said he didn't feel nervous on baseball's biggest stage.
"Not really. Approach it like another game," he said.
He also didn't quibble over his first hit being a squibber.
"You'd always like to hit the ball hard and be a line drive, but a hit's a hit," he said. "Glad I got one."
The speedy Castillo wasn't really tested in center field, although he made a nice running catch on a drive to left-center by Liriano in the fifth.
"That's a play a major league center fielder has to make," he said. "I thought got pretty good bead on it."
Castillo seemed just as comfortable before the game, when he was the center of attention for a team long out of the pennant race.
"I actually feel in a pretty good place, baseball-wise," Castillo said. "Yes, yes, I've been pretty happy with the way things have worked out, not just with the success on the field but the relationships I've been able to develop with the coaching staff and clubhouse staff and teammates."
Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington was on hand for Castillo's debut. Asked what the team can discover about Castillo over the last 11 games of the regular season, Cherington said, "I don't think it's the results that you learn from. It's just watching him around the team, pregame, interacting with people, questions he asks, all that stuff has been positive so far.
"Even if you just start with the time he was in Miami, and the showcase and go from there, the signing, the minors, being in Fort Myers, Portland, Pawtucket, he's met a lot of people and played games in a lot of different places, and he's handled it all well."
Castillo wasn't the only Red Sox rookie to take home a souvenir ball from his first big league hit. Bryce Brentz, promoted with Castillo after Tuesday night's Triple-A championship game, pinch hit for Sox starter Clay Buchholz in the fifth inning and reached second with a headfirst slide. He advanced to third on a fly ball by Mookie Betts and scored on Xander Bogaerts' grounder to short for Boston's lone run.
"A dream come true," Brentz said. "I was just glad I got into the game."