Nick Castellanos reversed a season of frustration against Atlanta on Tuesday to help the Philadelphia Phillies stun the host Braves 7-6 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
The right fielder, who hit just .191 in 12 games against Atlanta during the regular season, went 3-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and a run. He also made a long sliding catch in the ninth inning to save a likely extra-base hit.
Castellanos had gone hitless in the NL wild-card series against St. Louis, but on Tuesday he sparked a 12-hit attack. Bryce Harper was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk and Jean Segura went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
“You’ve got to fight, keep going,” Harper said afterward. “You play 27 outs for a reason. You keep clawing, you keep grinding and just have good at-bats.”
The Braves made it close in the ninth when Matt Olson hit a three-run homer to straightaway center field against Zach Eflin. But the right-hander got the next two outs to preserve the win.
“That was a big swing by Olson,” Harper said. “(Eflin) kept his composure, our guys in the field kept their composure and just played the game.”
Olson was 2-for-3 with two walks, scoring two runs and driving in three, and Travis d’Arnaud went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double and three RBIs.
“It was good to see us come back and kind of rally late there,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “At that point in a game like that we’re looking for any positives. We’ve got to win three more games and it was just good to see, like they’ve done for the last few years.”
The Phillies roughed up Atlanta ace Max Fried (0-1) for a season-high six runs (four earned) on eight hits, one walk and two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. Snitker said after the game that Fried was still suffering from the flu that caused him to leave his final start of the regular season early.
“It just didn’t happen for him today,” Snitker said. “We were just trying to get him through one more, really. In the past he’s been able to do that. It just wasn’t working for him today.”
Philadelphia starter Ranger Suarez pitched around trouble throughout his 3 1/3 innings, giving up only one run on three hits, five walks and five strikeouts. The winning pitcher was Seranthony Dominguez (1-0), the fourth of six relievers used. He threw two perfect innings in the sixth and seventh with three strikeouts.
“Ranger didn’t throw as many strikes as he normally does,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “But when he needed to, he made big pitches and I’m proud of him for that.”
The Phillies scored twice with two outs in the first inning after consecutive singles by J.T. Realmuto and Harper, with Castellanos and Alec Bohm hitting RBI singles.
d’Arnaud hit a solo homer to start the second inning to cut the lead to 2-1.
Philadelphia added two more runs in the third on Bohm’s sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Segura.
The Phillies scored twice in the fourth on Castellanos’ two-out single and added another run in the fifth on Edmundo Sosa’s sacrifice fly.
Atlanta cut the lead to 7-3 in the fifth on a two-run double by d’Arnaud.
The Atlanta bats struggled in key situations, going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine runners on base.
Philadelphia now has its two best pitchers set up to start the next two games. The matchup on Wednesday has right-hander Zack Wheeler (12-7, 2.82 ERA) against Atlanta right-hander Kyle Wright (21-5, 3.19).
–Field Level Media
