Nick Castellanos brings October baseball to Citizens Bank Park early

It felt like the biggest game of the season. It felt like October baseball, but the calendar had only just flipped over to September.

On Sunday night, in front of a national audience, Nick Castellanos and the Philadelphia Phillies got Citizens Bank Park primed for the postseason with a dramatic 11th-inning, walk-off 3-2 win over the rival Atlanta Braves.

Nick Castellanos brings October baseball to Citizens Bank Park early

You could have cut the tension with a knife. It had grown and grown with each passing inning after the Phillies tied it up on a Castellanos two-run double in the sixth inning. In the moment, the players probably weren’t thinking about how that Sunday Night Baseball game was the difference between a 5.0- or 7.0-game lead in the NL East. You can bet the fans were, though.

Instead of giving the Braves a glimmer of hope with a series split, the Phillies came through on the biggest stage in the most important game of the season to date, taking three of the four games.

As Castellanos shot the ball into center field and ran to first and Kody Clemons cruised home with the winning run, the Bank erupted with the volume and passion of a postseason crowd. The moment wasn’t lost on the hero of the night — who also happened to be Thursday night’s hero.

“There’s a lot of energy because all these Philly fans are really into it,” Castellanos said in a postgame interview on ESPN. “They’re going to give you all their love, they’re going to give you all their hate. They’re going to give you everything they got.” 

The fans certainly gave Castellanos all their love on Sunday. It was quite the redemption series for the Phillies right fielder who had taken plenty of criticism early in the season. He has quietly been the Phillies best, most consistent hitter over the last couple of months. He wasn’t quiet about it against the Braves when his team needed it the most.

Heading into a week with six games against non-playoff teams in the Toronto Blue Jays and Miami Marlins, the Phillies have a chance to do some real damage to the Braves’ playoff hopes. The Phillies magic number is 19, and the New York Mets only trail Atlanta by 1.0 game for the final Wild Card spot.

Even with a comfortable lead in the division again, the Phillies are playing for something down the stretch. They are still battling for the top seed in the NL. That would guarantee a Wild Card bye and home field advantage through the NLCS. As we saw on Sunday, the fans at Citizens Bank Park are ready for October baseball.