There was a tension brewing in the stadium. The fans were tight, Thompson and the coaching staff were tight, and the players were pressing. It wasn’t the start that the Philadelphia Phillies had imagined for the NLDS against the NL East division rival New York Mets.
After Zack Wheeler tossed a seven-inning, one-hit, shutout gem in Game 1, the bullpen imploded, giving up six runs in the last two innings and blowing it. But it was also the offense that couldn’t get it right. The Achilles heel of this team, chasing pitches out of the zone, came out in full force through the first 14 innings of the series.
The offense mustered just two runs and five hits in Game 1 with three of those hits and one of those runs coming when the game was already likely out of reach. The story was much of the same to start Game 2. Gathering just three hits in the first five innings while striking out six times and chasing pitches off the plate constantly.
With each swing and miss, the fans grew more and more restless. The groans started getting louder and the boos started to rain down. Luis Severino, the Mets starting pitcher, knew exactly what to do with Nick Castellanos up in the fourth inning. He buried two straight pitches, a sweeper and a slider, in the dirt low and outside to Castellanos. And as he and the Phillies have done all season and series, he chased those pitches, swinging and missing by a long shot.
Nick Castellanos proves he's made for Philly with reaction to Game 2 jeers
The boos came down from the stands. The Phillies faithful were frustrated and rightfully so. The very next pitch, Severino tried the same thing, a sweeper in the dirt low and away. This time, the 32-year-old right fielder laid off. A sarcastic “Bronx cheer" descended from the stands, mocking Castellanos for finally not swinging at the pitch out of the zone.
Similar to Alec Bohm’s “I hate this place” moment, the cameras picked up on Castellanos muttering something to himself.
“You (expletive) people,” he appeared to say.
YOU 🤐 PEOPLE!
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) October 7, 2024
Casty locks in after hearing from the fans pic.twitter.com/rEeguXzNqU
He was frustrated, he was bothered, he was upset, and he showed it. But he understood that the fans cared as much as he does. He grounded out softly that at-bat, but the wheels were in motion for the offense to wake up.
The Mets took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth and everyone could feel time was running out.
After two quick outs from Kody Clemens and Kyle Schwarber, Turner singled through the hole on the left side to bring up Bryce Harper. Harper, as the Showman likes to do, provided some magic, launching a two-run shot into the center field flower beds to make it a one-run game.
Castellanos stepped to the plate, fresh off the boos and sarcastic cheers from his previous at-bat, focused in and ready to deliver. He took the second pitch, a sweeper that caught too much of the plate, deep to left center field to tie the game up.
He knew it the moment he hit it and stared down the dugout as if to say, “You know we’re back.”
But the lightning rod of a right fielder wasn’t finished. After the Mets quickly responded and took the lead again, Castellanos took a center-cut fastball from Edwin Díaz to right field for a solid base hit that set up the game's major turning point. Stott followed with a triple to the corner to give the Phillies the lead, with Castellanos scoring from first on a full-out sprint.
Honestly, if that was it for the right fielder for a game in which he was initially booed, the fans would have been ecstatic. They would appreciate his resiliency to bounce back. But again, he wasn’t finished.
The Phillies needed three outs to secure Game 2, but the Mets' magic showed up again. They tied the game up with a two-run homer and the tension was back in the stadium. With Pete Alonso up, the hero of the Wild Card Series, the Phillies were desperate to get out of the inning tied with a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth. Alonso blooped one to right field and, as he has done a few times previously in big moments, Castellanos made his patented sliding grab to end the inning.
The game wasn’t over; the Phillies had a chance to win it. Built for the moment, Nick Castellanos, with his son Liam in the stands, wanted a shot to win it.
The Phillies provided that opportunity. Two quick outs from Austin Hays and Schwarber brought Turner to the plate. He drew a walk and Harper followed suit. Two men on, two out, Castellanos swaggered to the plate, confidence high despite being booed earlier in the game.
After two swinging strikes, he must have had the fans in his mind because he laid off the slider in the dirt low and away. Megill put the next slider a little further on the plate and missed his spot. Castellanos took the pitch to left field and Turner scored easily to walk it off.
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish," Castellanos said postgame, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. And he's right, the offense came out sluggish but woke up just in time.
"I don't know. I was kind of frustrated, so I locked in more," he said about the sarcastic cheers from the crowd. Just as he always does. It was a master class of stepping up to the plate.
Castellanos- reaction to bronx cheer earlier and adjustment? I don't know. I was kinda frustrated so I locked in more.
— Michael Barkann (@MBarkannNBCS) October 6, 2024
Castellanos was the hero again as he had been so many times so far in 2024. He is from Florida but he showed he's made for Philadelphia. The redemption of having nothing going, fishing for pitches and answers, getting booed and jeered, to homering, extending innings, making diving plays, and then walking it off, Nick Castellanos proved he has the Philadelphia mindset.