After swinging right over the top of two, Nick Castellanos finally took a sweeper in the dirt in the fourth inning of Sunday’s NLDS Game 2. The Citizens Bank Park crowd, fed up at the offense and a flailing team trailing 2-0 and on pace for a series hole of the same score, congratulated him with a Bronx cheer.
Castellanos shook his head. The FS1 broadcast cut to him right at that moment.
Over the course of the next two hours, Castellanos sent these f***ing people into a frenzy.
Castellanos featured in a thrilling come-from-behind victory for the Phillies, who turned a 3-0 hole into a tie game, then erased a 4-3 deficit in a furious eighth-inning rally, then blew that lead in the ninth inning only for Castellanos to make it all worthwhile. His two-out, walk-off single evened the NLDS, a Game 2 victory the Phillies desperately needed.
At some point in the middle innings, the FS1 broadcast booth mentioned that someone on Philadelphia’s side would need to step up with a big hit to get the crowd back into it. It always had to be — and always was going to be — Bryce Harper. He came through. His two-run homer in the sixth inning got the Phillies on the board and turned a three-run deficit into one, and Castellanos did the rest with a back-to-back shot of his own, tying the game at three.
Momentum was short-lived. Brandon Nimmo hit a solo homer with two outs in the seventh to put the Mets back up.
The walk-off, and all the highs that preceded it, were not the only celebrations at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday. It was Bryson Stott’s 27th birthday. He honored the occasion with a full-count two-run triple in the eighth, a better at bat than most of his veteran teammates had worked to that point in the NLDS. It flipped a deficit on its head, and Stott scored on J.T. Realmuto’s swinging bunt the next at bat.
The Phillies needed the insurance run. Matt Strahm, on for the ninth despite Carlos Estévez throwing just eight pitches in the eighth, surrendered a two-run homer to Mark Vientos, his second of the game.
No matter. Trea Turner and Bryce Harper worked two-out walks to set Castellanos up in the bottom half. These f***ing people partied. The Phillies stayed alive. Game 3 is Tuesday.
MORE FROM PHILLIES NATION
- Phillies 2024 Walk-Up Songs
- Dave Dombrowski Not Over Phillies’ 2023 NLCS Loss: ‘They’ll Linger For The Rest Of My Life’
- For Bryson Stott, The Postseason A Chance For Much-Needed Reset
- Is The Window For The Phillies Closing? Dave Dombrowski Doesn’t Think So.
- Aaron Nola: ‘Whatever They Need From Me, I’ll Be Ready For’
- Zack Wheeler Thinks 2024 Regular Season Was His Strongest
- Phillies Reportedly Shut Down Idea Of Including Top Pitching Prospect In Trade For Frontline Starter
- Top Prospect Justin Crawford Eager To Join Phillies After Award-Winning Season: ‘I Want To Be Here Next Year’
- Aramark Employees At CBP Are On Strike. How Did It Get To This Point?
- Local Pitcher Fulfills Dream As Savannah Bananas Come To Philly: ‘It’s Pretty Surreal’
Subscribe To Phillies Nation On Youtube
