Nick Castellanos honors his late dog, Tiger, with a home run in the Phillies’ 8-2 win over the Marlins

MIAMI — Nick Castellanos is often at his best when he feels settled. It’s part of the reason why a trip to Miami in August of last year sparked a hot streak that lasted for rest of the month. Castellanos was born and raised in South Florida, and lives there in the offseason. He savors the time he has at home.

Thursday’s off-day was no different. Castellanos hit in the batting cage with family and friends, went to his son’s baseball game, and spent some time with his longtime dog, Tiger. Castellanos got the dog when he was just 19. He named him Tiger because he was playing in the Tigers’ organization.

His mother, Michelle, began taking care of him as Castellanos’ career began to skyrocket. But he quickly developed a bond with the dog, who was with him from the very beginning. On Thursday night, he developed a heath issue, and on Friday morning, the family had to put him down.

Castellanos was grateful for the time he had with his lifelong companion, and on Friday night, in an 8-2 Phillies win, he honored him in a way that only he could. In the top of the second inning, Castellanos took an 85 mph changeup from Tyler Rogers, and deposited it into the right center field seats. He went 1-for-5 on Friday, but made a lot of hard contact.

After getting off to a frigid start, Castellanos is starting to heat up. He is batting .296/.345/.519 over his last seven games. But more important, perhaps, is how he feels.

“I just feel like my swings are more loose,” he said. “Free. Not worried so much about chasing or being so hard on myself on trying to have a plan or what not. Just go up there with no thoughts and swing. See ball hit ball.”

When Castellanos looks back at that first month of the season, in which he hit .193/.258/.263 with 28 strikeouts, he sees a hitter who was trying to do too much.

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“My whole career, I’ve never had a plan, or looked for a pitch,” he said. “Basically the game is glorified batting practice. And that’s when I’ve always been at my best. And I think that I just really tried to be something that I wasn’t at the beginning of the season. And [expletive] myself a little bit. But I’m getting out of it.”

He added: “[I was trying to be] somebody that was more patient, and selective, and somebody that was looking for this pitch, in this count, and this pitcher does this and that. And a lot of the freedom that I would have attacking the baseball kind of went away, because my mind was working way too fast.”

The Phillies are hopeful that he’ll keep it up. The rightfielder doesn’t want to get too ahead of himself. He is perfectly content with staying in the moment, and right now, that means focusing on a good day at the plate, and a pup that lived a full life.

“It was ironic, right?” Castellanos said. “I was able to go home. He was there. We were able to watch Liam’s game with him, happy as hell and in a great mood, but he really took a turn for the worst in the middle of the night. And he was put down in the morning. But I mean like, a boxer, 13 and a half years, the dog has been all over the country. Flown first class. If I come back as a boxer in my next life, sign me up for that life.”

The Phillies embarked on this road trip knowing full well that they’d be facing four lefties over their first four games. For a lineup that is heavy on lefty power hitters, that might not seem like the best thing. But on Friday night, in an 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins, it was far from a problem.

Rogers was on the mound for Miami. He entered the game with a 6.15 ERA, and by the time he left, it raised to 6.57. Rogers threw 81 pitches through 3⅓ innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits, with two walks and three strikeouts. He allowed one home run, a solo opposite-field shot hit by Castellanos to lead off the second.

They piled on from there. The Phillies scored three runs (two earned) on six hits off the Marlins’ relievers, finishing their day with 15 hits and those eight runs. Eight out of the nine hitters in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit.

“Everybody in the starting lineup got on base,” said manager Rob Thomson. “Driving balls, doubles, a lot of opposite field hits, too, which is good to see. That tells you that guys are staying on the baseball and hitting the ball where it’s pitched. Fifteen hits, five walks … that’s production.”

At 10-30, the Marlins are not a formidable opponent. But the Phillies haven’t always shown an ability to beat bad teams, especially on the road. This year, they’ve been able to with ease.

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More than a few of the Phillies’ hits on Friday night came from bench players. Cristian Pache went 2-for-5, and Edmundo Sosa went 1-for-3. Johan Rojas, who entered the game batting .115/.148/.231 over his last seven games, had his best offensive night in a while and went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

Rojas’ RBI single in the second inning — which came off of his bat at 110.4 mph — was the hardest hit of his career. He hit his second home run of the season in the seventh inning, a solo shot that traveled 388 feet.

The Phillies’ lefties didn’t have trouble with Rogers or the rest of the Marlins’ pitching staff, either. Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-5, and Bryce Harper went 2-for-4.

The offensive shellacking almost overshadowed left-handed pitcher Ranger Suárez, who quietly spun seven scoreless innings, allowing two walks and three hits with nine strikeouts. Suárez now has a 1.50 ERA and a 7-0 record through eight starts. He’s allowed only eight walks over that span.

Thomson said that Suárez is on a run that he hasn’t seen before.

“I think this is best run he’s been on, no doubt about it,” Thomson said. “He’s been really been focused and locked in. Very consistent, very consistent.”

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Gregory Soto pitched the eighth, allowing two runs on two hits with one walk and one strikeout. José Alvarado pitched the ninth, inducing a lineout — thanks to a great running grab from Castellanos — a groundout, and a strikeout. The Phillies are now 27-12.