PHILADELPHIA. – As is often the case, Bryce Harper showed the Philadelphia Phillies a path to victory Sunday (Monday in Manila). But it was the oft-criticized Nick Castellanos who took the Phillies over the finish line.
Castellanos singled home the decisive run in the bottom of the ninth, lifting Philadelphia over the New York Mets 7-6 in Game 2 of their National League Division Series.
Castellanos, who went 3-for-5 with a homer, lined a 1-2 offering from reliever Tylor Megill (0-1) into left, scoring Trea Turner and ending a game that saw 11 runs scored over the last four innings.
In the other game, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit two home runs as the San Diego Padres went deep six times and evened their NLDS showdown with a 10-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Tatis hit home runs in the first and ninth innings, while former Dodger David Peralta hit one in the second. Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts hit back-to-back blasts in the eighth, while Kyle Higashioka also hit one in the ninth.
Right-hander Yu Darvish (1-0) gave up one run on three hits to go along with two walks and three strikeouts over seven innings for the Padres, who head home for Game 3 on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
“This has been our mindset coming out of the gate,” Tatis said. “We’ve had our foot on the pedal since the beginning and it’s one thing we have been doing this whole year. … That’s what we’re capable of doing and we’re going to keep that mentality.”
Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts for the Dodgers, who had five hits and lost for the seventh time in eight playoff games over the past three seasons, a rut that includes an NLDS defeat to the Padres in 2022. The top three spots in Los Angeles’ order combined to go 0-for-12.
Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty (0-1) gave up four runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked one.
At one point the Mets led 3-0, only to see the Phillies tie it on back-to-back homers by Harper and Castellanos in the sixth. New York edged in front 4-3 on Brandon Nimmo’s solo homer the following inning, but Philadelphia pushed across three runs in the bottom of the eighth–two on Bryson Stott’s triple–to go up 6-4.
Mark Vientos tied it once more with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth, his second homer of the game.
Turner and Harper walked with two outs in the bottom of the inning, setting the stage for Castellanos and enabling the Phillies to tie the best-of-five series at one game apiece. The next two games will be played Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) and Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) in New York.
Castellanos has drawn the fans’ ire for his undisciplined approach at the plate since arriving in Philadelphia as a free agent in March 2022, and was booed after going hitless in his first two at-bats Sunday (Monday in Manila).
