'The guy's incredible:' Castro on historic power run to start his career taken at PNC Park. (Pirates)

JUSTIN K. ALLER / GETTY

Rodolfo Castro celebrates after hitting his second home run Wednesday.

Rodolfo Castro probably could hit a single. We just haven’t seen him do it yet.

While it came after the game was already out of hand against the Brewers Wednesday, Castro snapped a 23-inning Pirates scoreless streak by getting a hold of a Eric Lauer changeup that was left up and over the plate.

The estimated distance: 437 feet, straight into the Pirates' bullpen:

In the ninth, Castro did it again, this time off All-Star Josh Hader, traveling 410 feet:

Those two swings accounted for all of the Pirates’ offense in their 7-3 loss to the Brewers at PNC Park, but at least a little history was created along the way.

With the second home run, Castro became the first player in the Modern Era (since 1901) to homer for each of their first five major league hits. The only other hitter to do it four times was Trevor Story in 2016.

"In all reality, I had no idea. I knew that it was special, but I had no idea that I had just set a record or accomplished something that no one else has ever accomplished,” Castro said through team translator Mike Gonzalez. “I'm feeling great right now.”

Now in his third stint in the majors, Castro is the owner of one of the wackier slash lines you’ll see in the majors: A .238 batting average, .304 on-base percentage and .952 slugging percentage.

"I don't really think it's sustainable. But if he wants to try, I'm all for it,” Derek Shelton joked.

"The guy’s incredible," Wednesday’s starter Max Kranick said. "I’m very happy for him."

Castro has always had raw power, but it started to blossom at the alternate site last year. Between that stint in Altoona and the instructional league at the end of the year, Castro showed the front office enough to add him to the 40-man roster this offseason.

As the 22-year-old matured, that power translated to games more naturally. In 229 plate appearances for Class AA Altoona, Castro hit .300, slugged .527 and went deep 11 times.

“I don't go up there with a mentality to hit home runs,” Castro said. “I just go up there with a mentality to hit the ball hard and square it up with the barrel."

And although they are two very different types of hitters, it should be pointed out that Castro already has hit more home runs than the person he is replacing on the roster, All-Star Adam Frazier, who had four.

Part of Castro's success this year has come from conversations he has had with Frazier, including during his first stint in the majors in April, including how to attack the strike zone. It's paying off.

“The first thing that crosses my mind is just all the work, all the effort, all the sacrifices,” Castro said. “You capture moments like this, and it gives you a different perspective of how worth it and how valuable those sacrifices and that work and all that preparation [was]. The fruits and the labor it provides to you in return.

“I'm feeling amazing right now. It's an amazing feeling. The mindset is let's keep it coming. Let's continue forward."

With Frazier no longer in the mix, Castro is the heir apparent to the second base job, at least for the time being. He’s started both games at second since the trade, and should continue to get fairly consistent playing time while in the majors.

“We did acquire some guys who are middle infielders, so (maybe) that factors into it at some point,” Shelton said before Tuesday’s game. “In the short term, we feel comfortable with the fact that [Wilmer] Difo and Castro are here.”

They should feel comfortable with Castro. At the very least, he looks comfortable in the majors. The spotlights of the majors can be a lot for a 22-year-old, especially one who never played a game in Class AAA.

Whether it was the emotion he showed rounding the bases at Citi Field just before the All-Star break or his most recent multi-homer performance, he doesn’t look overmatched. There’s some very visible confidence and excitement that was there in Altoona, but has translated to the show.

“I’m just really grateful for those people that instilled a lot of confidence into me and poured a lot of love into me and just reminded me to just be myself when I’m in the big leagues,” Castro said. “Enjoy the moment, be in the moment but more than anything just be yourself. That’s why I feel the confidence and the comfort that I feel right now.”

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MORE FROM THE GAME

• Kranick was ambushed early by the Brewers, allowing three hits and a run in a nine-pitch first inning from the Brewers. They were fastball hunting early and lining them.

So he "worked backwards," using the curveball and slider early in the count. While the curve was getting whiffs and diving -- he had adopted a new grip recently that changed his thumb placement -- the slider tended to hang in the zone rather than dive down.

That was most apparent in the top of the sixth, when Luis Urias pulled a bases loaded double down the line to chase him.

 "I need to execute better in late counts and put myself in better counts," Kranick said. "Obviously I hung some pitches there at the end, but overall I felt good."

Kranick pitched 5+ innings and allowed six runs on 10 hits and one intentional walk. He struck out three.

• Wait, the Pirates only made one transaction today? Promoting Kranick to replace the recently traded Tyler Anderson was it? No other trades or draft pick signings?

Huh. How about that?

We did get an injury report before the game. While Steven Brault could be back in the rotation soon, Trevor Cahill and Chase De Jong are almost certainly done for the season.

And those deadlines are coming up soon, so stayed tuned.

• When it comes to rotation depth, the Pirates are in a unique spot going down the stretch. Anderson was the reliable hand of the group, always going at least five innings each time his spot came up. With him gone, De Jong hurt and things still very fluid, a normal five-man rotation may not be a guarantee, especially once pitcher workloads are brought into the mix. Shelton has used JT Brubaker as an example of someone whose innings will need to be monitored after he missed almost all of 2019 and then had the abbreviated 2020 season.

"Would we like to have consistency there [in the rotation]? Yeah, but the big part is going to be not only managing opportunities but managing volume and workload," Shelton said before the game.

THE ESSENTIALS

Boxscore
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Ben Gamel, LF
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Gregory Polanco, RF
5. John Nogowski, 1B
6. Jacob Stallings, C
7. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
8. Kevin Newman, SS
9. Max Kranick, RHP

And for Craig Counsell's Brewers:

1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Willy Adames, SS
3. Omar Navárez, C
4. Avisail Garcia, RF
5. Rowdy Tellez, 1B
6. Tyrone Taylor, LF
7. Lorenzo Cain, CF
8. Luis Urias, 3B
9. Adrian Houser, RHP

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will try to salvage the series finale Thursday night. Chad Kuhl (3-5, 4.38) will take on Freddy Peralta (7-3, 2.29), with first pitch coming at 7:05 p.m. I've got you covered from the ballpark.

IN THE SYSTEM

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Greensboro
Bradenton

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