Nick Castellanos hit a game-winning single in the 11th inning, and Philadelphia’s bullpen threw five scoreless innings after Aaron Nola, leading the Phillies to a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night. This was the last regular-season game between the two top teams in the NL East.
Castellanos was the key player for the Phillies, helping them win three of the four games in the series and increasing their division lead to seven games.
He tied the game in the sixth inning with a two-run double off Braves pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach and then ended the game with a two-out RBI single off Grant Holmes.
This was Castellanos’ fourth walk-off hit of the season. Both of his hits came in at-bats that began with 0-2 counts.
“It makes me want to take (pitches) so I have two strikes more often,” Castellanos said, jokingly. “I think the thing that has gotten me the most comfortable in those spots is all the work I do on the field early.
I don’t feel like I’m searching for a swing. I think that since we started doing that in May, it’s just built success slowly.”
The Braves are currently leading the New York Mets by one game for the last National League wild-card spot.
Carlos Estévez (3-4) pitched the 10th and 11th innings, retiring all six batters he faced and preventing the automatic runner from scoring in both innings.
Estévez celebrated with excitement and received a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd, which had a playoff-like feel.
“It’s really cool, man,” said Estévez, who has only faced two batters in the postseason in his nine-year career, including time with Colorado and the Los Angeles Angels.
“It’s one thing when you see (the Philadelphia crowd) from the other side, but when you live it here, it’s really amazing.”
Only left-hander Matt Strahm had any difficulty for the Phillies’ bullpen, as he loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning. However, he managed to get Orlando Arcia to pop out and Luke Williams to fly out, keeping the score tied.
Aaron Nola gave up two runs and four hits, walked one batter, and struck out nine in six innings. This was his 18th quality start of the season, which is the second most in the majors, behind his teammate Zack Wheeler.
“His velocity has gone up a little bit and he held his velocity tonight,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Consequently, the breaking ball is better because of the velocity. He was commanding all of his pitches. … He was fantastic.”
Spencer Schwellenbach kept the Phillies off balance before the sixth inning, causing a lot of weak contact. He didn’t let any runner reach scoring position until Bryce Harper hit a bloop double down the left-field line right before Castellanos in the sixth inning.
By allowing only two runs, Schwellenbach set a Braves franchise record with 21 consecutive starts giving up three runs or fewer.
Michael Harris II hit a 2-2 curveball from Nola in the third inning into the first row of seats in right-center to give the Braves an early lead.
Whit Merrifield drove in another run for Atlanta by beating out a potential double-play grounder with runners on the corners in the fourth inning. He was initially called out, but the Braves challenged the call, and it was overturned upon replay review, so the run counted.
Aaron Bummer (4-3) took the loss. He was charged with an unearned run despite not allowing a hit in two-thirds of an inning.
