PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Castellanos sometimes amazes himself with intuition he can win a game on the final swing.
As he approached the plate with two outs in the ninth inning, with two runners on and the score tied, Castellanos had a hunch he could win Game 2 of the NL Division Series for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Even in the face of an 1-2 slider against Mets reliever Tylor Megill.
“I did like that pitch when I saw it,” Castellanos said.
As Phillies fans unleashed a throaty roar that echoed outside Citizens Bank Park, it was clear they liked that pitch, too.
Castellanos ripped a winning single that scored Trea Turner and sent the Phillies to a dizzying 7-6 win over New York on Sunday and evened the NLDS at one game apiece.
“I said to the guys, Rocky would be proud,” postseason star Bryce Harper said. “Never-die mentality. Just a great game.”
This win meant more than any fictional tale.
Castellanos, who led the major leagues this season with four walk-off hits, tossed his helmet and was mobbed by teammates on the infield as a game that seemed to slip away one inning earlier turned into one more comeback for the NL East champions.
He ran over to his son, Liam, a steady presence at the ballpark during his tenure, and the two exchanged a big “Let's Go!”
“When I'm old and no one cares about me as a baseball player anymore, we’re going to be home and be able to remember and look back at that,” Castellanos said.
His performance in Game 2 will live long in Philly sports lore. Castellanos had two big swings and misses in the fourth inning for an 0-2 count. He didn’t bite on a sweeper in the dirt and mouthed his displeasure when he heard boos from fans.
His tying homer in the sixth made it 3-all, and Castellanos scored the go-ahead run on Bryson Stott's two-run triple in a three-run eighth that put Philadelphia ahead 6-4.
“He came up big for us a lot this year,” Stott said. “It feels like every walk-off hit is Nick, and that’s who he is. And his heart rate doesn’t get up, stays the same. And gets the swing off.”
Megill retired the first two batters of the ninth and walked Turner and Harper, who also homered and scored twice. Castellanos followed with the Phillies’ fifth career postseason walk-off hit.
“Just made a bad pitch, backed up on me,” Megill said.
After falling behind 0-2, Castellanos took a ball in the dirt, then pulled a hanging slider into left and sparked the towel-waving crowd at the ballpark into a frenzy.
“Unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Castellanos said. “If he blows a fastball by me, so be it. I’d rather that than swing at something in the dirt. It was incredible but the series is even. Now we go to New York and there’s a lot of baseball left.”
Game 3 is Tuesday in New York, the Mets’ first home game since Sept. 22.
“No excuses. It’s been hard, but here we are,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I’m just looking forward to get back to Citi Field.”
In just the second postseason game between the NL East rivals, the Mets and Phillies were pushed from pillar to post over the final four innings, each game-changing swing topped by one even more emotional.
Mark Vientos hit a pair of two-run homers for the Mets, who got solo shots from Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo.
“I think we put on quite a show for everybody in attendance and everybody watching on TV,” Nimmo said.
Harper's two-run homer and Castellanos' solo drive in a three-pitch span from Luis Severino sparked the Phillies' comeback from a 3-0, sixth-inning deficit.
“Missed my location and paid for it,” Severino said.
After Nimmo's seventh-inning homer off Orion Kerkering gave New York a 4-3 lead, Stott lined a go-ahead, two-run triple down the right-field line on his 27th birthday after Harper walked and Castellanos singled off Díaz in the eighth.
“He threw a slider that I thought I could finally hit, and was able to pull it down the line,” Stott said.
Díaz, who has a 9.37 ERA at Citizens Bank Park, threw 104 pitches in three outings over a seven-day span.
Díaz faulted his approach to Harper, saying “I think I was a little bit lazy to him instead of attacking him.”
J.T. Realmuto's grounder scored Stott for a 6-4 lead, but Vientos hit a two-run homer off Matt Strahm, an All-Star lefty who failed the Phillies for a second straight game.
Harper — who wore a “Showman” headband — snapped the Phillies out of their offensive malaise when he drove Severino's fastest pitch of the day, a 99 mph fastball, 431 feet into the shrubbery in dead center as fans roared.
“That was sick,” Harper said. “Best fanbase in the world.”
Phillies fans were still going wild when Castellanos followed with a tying homer to left-center, then sprinted around the bases.
Now it's off to New York.
“Both teams, man,” Harper said. “Punch for punch.”
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Aaron Nola and Mets LHP Sean Manaea start in Game 3.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
