Nick Castellanos stirred a whirlwind of emotions among the sold-out crowd at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday.
After enduring boos and Bronx cheers in the fourth inning, he silenced his critics with a game-tying homer in the sixth. By the eighth, he was back at it, delivering a single and scoring the go-ahead run on Bryson Stott’s clutch triple. Then, with the game on the line in the ninth, Castellanos laced a walk-off single down the left-field line, sealing a thrilling 7-6 comeback victory that leveled the NLDS at one game apiece.
"Yeah, he doesn't let anything bother him, really," manager Rob Thomson said. "If he's struggling, it doesn't really bother him; he just keeps working. He's an experienced guy. He knows he's going to come out of it at some point. And that stays with that end game, as well. He just keeps fighting."
Castellanos’s walk-off was just the fifth in Phillies postseason history, the last coming from Jimmy Rollins’ double in Game 4 of the 2009 National League Championship Series. It also marked Castellanos’s fifth walk-off hit this season, underscoring his knack for delivering in the clutch.
After reaching first base, Castellanos briefly celebrated with his teammates before running toward his son, Liam, who was behind home plate.
“The best,” Castellanos said. “Because when I’m old and no one cares about me as a baseball player anymore, we’re going to be at home and be able to remember and look back at that.”
What makes Castellanos so clutch in key moments?
"It might sound wild to say out loud, but I just try and do less," he said with a smile, explaining how he tries to simplify his approach during high-pressure situations.
In the ninth, with two outs and Mets right-hander Tylor Megill on the mound, Castellanos took advantage of an opportunity after Megill issued walks to Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. Chasing two pitches out of the zone early in the at-bat, Castellanos stayed patient, then crushed an 0-2 slider that hung over the plate.
“He's Nick Castellanos,” Stott said. “He’s a professional hitter, and he's hit his whole career. He came up big for us a lot this year. It feels like every walk-off hit is Nick, and that's who he is.”
The Phillies' offense showed resilience all game. Harper, who was vocal about the team's approach at the plate following Saturday’s loss, ignited the crowd with a two-run blast in the sixth, bringing the nervous fans back to life. Castellanos’s solo shot moments later tied the game at 3-3.
"That was sick," Harper said. "It's the best fan base in the entire world. They continue to fight for us, and we continue to fight for them. We're not just playing for the 25 guys in here; we're obviously playing for the 45,000 out there."
Brandon Nimmo briefly silenced the crowd in the seventh, belting a solo homer off Orion Kerkering to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. But the Phillies responded with three runs in the eighth, highlighted by Stott's two-run triple, which put the Phillies ahead 6-4 on his 27th birthday.
Just when it looked like the Phillies had control, Mark Vientos hit a two-run shot off Matt Strahm in the ninth, putting the Mets back on top.
"It was a bad miss," Strahm admitted. "It was up out of the zone, and I was trying to go down and away. The reason is he's really good at keeping his bat flat at the top of the zone, so if you're going to go, you have to go up-up, and so it was a bad miss, a really bad miss."
Earlier in the game, Vientos had also capitalized on a mistake, turning on an 84-mph changeup from Cristopher Sanchez for a two-run homer in the third, giving the Mets an early 2-0 advantage.
Despite the early deficit, Sanchez pitched well for the Phillies, surrendering just two runs over five innings while scattering five hits and throwing 88 pitches. His effort kept the Phillies within striking distance, setting the stage for the late-game heroics.
“Obviously, going into New York 1-1 is a lot better than going 0-2,” Castellanos said. “That said, this series is far from over. They’re a really good team over there. They play together as a unit and have faced adversity before. Games 3 and 4 in New York are going to be challenging, but I know all of us are looking forward to it.”
Castellanos plays hero in Game 2 for Phillies with 9th-inning single, NLDS even at 1-1
By Patrick Gordon, Executive Editor
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Patrick Gordon, Executive Editor
Patrick Gordon is the executive editor of The Philadelphia Baseball Review. He has covered the Philadelphia Phillies and amateur baseball in the region for two decades. He is a graduate of Temple University and Northeast Catholic.