RetroSimba

With the most important pitch of his big-league career, Frank Castillo tried to slip a fastball by Bernard Gilkey.

Wrong choice.

One strike away from a no-hitter, Castillo’s high fastball was lined by Gilkey into right-center field. Sammy Sosa attemped a diving catch, but the ball landed about eight feet away from him and rolled to the wall for a triple.

In 13 major-league seasons, Castillo was 82-104 with a 4.56 ERA. His best game was the one-hitter against the Cardinals, a 7-0 Cubs victory on Sept. 25, 1995, at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Castillo, a right-hander, struck out a career-high 13.

Throwing strikes

Facing a Cardinals club that ranked 27th in the major leagues in batting average at .248, Castillo was in command from the start.

“I knew right from the first pitch … that I could throw any pitch I wanted for a strike,” Castillo said to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Benefitting from a wide strike zone by home plate umpire Jerry Layne, Castillo walked two: Ray Lankford in the first and Tripp Cromer in the seventh.

With two outs in the ninth inning, Castillo appeared poised to complete the Cubs’ first no-hitter since Milt Pappas in 1972.

All that stood in Castillo’s way was Gilkey, the Cardinals’ left fielder and leadoff batter.

Cat and mouse

“Nobody was on my side,” Gilkey told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I was up there all alone. It was a very intense situation, everybody in the stands yelling all kinds of stuff.”

After Gilkey fell behind in the count 0-and-2, Castillo threw a slider outside, followed by a low changeup, evening the count.

“I thought I threw a good pitch on the 1-and-2 changeup,” Castillo said. “I was hoping he would bite.”

Said Gilkey: “When he threw me the slider and then a changeup down, I felt like he was trying to lull me to sleep.”

Cubs catcher Scott Servais said he figured Gilkey would be looking for another slow pitch. “So, I thought, ‘OK, let’s try a fastball up and away,’ ” Servais said. “Frankie got it up fine, but it caught too much of the plate.”

Said Castillo to the Chicago Tribune: “It was one of those pitches that, as soon as I threw it, I wanted it back.”

Command and focus

Sosa had no real chance to catch the sinking liner.

“When I walked up to the plate, I had to lock in,” Gilkey said. “I had to use every ounce of energy, mentally and physically, to get that hit.”

Castillo retired the next batter, Cromer, on a fly out, preserving the shutout and earning his second complete game of the season. The Cardinals were shut out for the 19th time, most in the big leagues in 1995. Boxscore

“This definitely was the best command I’ve had all year and probably in my career,” Castillo said.

Said Cubs first baseman Mark Grace: “I’d have to say that’s the best (pitched) game I’ve played behind.”