Final Score: Phillies 3, Braves 1
Prior to Thursday night’s game, Phillies skipper Rob Thomson met with some of the local beat writers. He fielded questions about a number of topics, including his starting pitcher Ranger Suárez, the fact that the Phillies were 4-for-4 in potential postseason series-clinching games under Thomson, and his club’s strong mindset.
The Phillies manager was also asked about Nick Castellanos. It was mentioned the right fielder had been taking some really good at-bats of late, especially after homering twice in Wednesday’s 10-2 win. In regards to Castellanos, Thomson said, “[He’s been] very calm. [His] head’s not moving, there’s no panic there. He’s just seeing the ball and hitting, you know?”
Seeing and hitting, indeed. Not only did Castellanos homer in the fourth inning, he homered again in the sixth, becoming the first player in Major League Baseball history with back-to-back multi-homer games during the postseason. The two-time All-Star finished his night 3-for-3 with a walk.
It wasn’t just Castellanos that helped the Phillies tonight. Trea Turner went 4-for-4 at the dish with two singles, a double and his own home run. Suárez delivered five innings of one-run ball, furthering his status as a pitcher born with ice in his veins. And rookie Johan Rojas, known for his defense, showed exactly why as he made a great play to save multiple runs from scoring late in the game.
Atlanta got on the board first tonight with a fourth-inning home run by Austin Riley. Down in the count 0-2, the Braves third baseman just got hold of a changeup below the strike zone to give his team a 1-0 lead.
The away’s team lead didn’t last all that long, though. A half inning later, Castellanos hit his first homer of the night, wasting no time in doing so by connecting on a first-pitch slider.
An inning later, it was Turner’s turn to leave the yard. Already 2-for-2 on the night, Philadelphia’s $300-million shortstop did the same thing as Castellanos — homer on a first-pitch slider.
An inning later, Spencer Strider made rather quick work off Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto for the first two outs of the bottom of the sixth. Castellanos was up again and worked the count this time. He got himself into a hole, but quickly dug himself out if by launching a 1-2, center-cut fastball into the left field seats, extending the Phillies lead to 3-1.
Strider was pulled from the game after that home run. The Phillies seemed to be eyeing the right-hander’s slider as both Castellanos and Turner jumped on first-pitch sliders for homers. Of the seven hits the Phillies notched against Strider, four were off his slider.
The next half inning is when things got very tense in South Philly. José Alvarado walked back-to-back hitters with two outs and his replacement, Craig Kimbrel, walked the first batter he faced to load the bases with two outs for Ronald Acuña Jr..
Up to that point, Acuña was 2-for-13 in the series. He worked the count and fouled some pitches off. The Braves superstar then flied the seventh pitch of the at-bat out to center field. Rojas had a read on the ball in a seemingly quiet ballpark. The rookie met the ball at the warning track, catching it awkwardly to end Atlanta’s threat.
Things eventually got even more tense in the ninth. Atlanta put runners on the corners with nobody out, resulting in Thomson making a pitching change. He removed Gregory Soto in favor of fellow left-hander Matt Strahm to face the bottom-third of the Braves lineup.
Strahm stranded both runners, getting Kevin Pillar to pop out, Eddie Rosario to fly out and Vaughn Grissom to strikeout to end the game.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- NLCS Game 1 on Monday, October 16 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park
- 8:07 p.m. EDT
- TV: TBS
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680
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