Nick Castellanos’ walk-off single gives Phillies a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates

When Nick Castellanos connected with right-hander Roansy Contreras’ four-seam fastball in the ninth inning on Saturday night, a weight seemed to lift off his shoulders. He is at his best when he sees ball, hits ball, and the Phillies right fielder did exactly that. With the bases loaded and one out in a tie ballgame, Castellanos turned his brain off, took an effortless swing at the first pitch and lifted a baseball 362 feet, over the head of drawn-in Pirates center fielder Jack Suwinski for a game-winning single, the fourth walk-off RBI of his career.

As he arrived at first base, Castellanos’ teammates began to mob him. He reached out both arms and took it in. Castellanos has been grinding. When he was in St. Louis, he candidly told reporters that his at-bats were an unprintable word. He has been working hard to address that, whether it’s in the batting cage with hitting coach Kevin Long, or on the field with first base coach Paco Figueroa.

Saturday’s 4-3 win was the culmination of all of that work. Castellanos wasn’t perfect. He struck out twice while going 2-for-5. But he made hard contact and showed up in big spots, driving in two runs with two singles.

It was progress, and it didn’t just show up at the plate. In the third inning, Castellanos made a leaping catch at the scoreboard in right field to rob Alika Williams. This was another area in which he’d been grinding. A day earlier, at about 3:30 p.m., he and Figueroa met in right field. Castellanos was barefoot. Figueroa set up a small pitching machine, and began shooting green foam balls into the sky. Castellanos caught them, one by one, barehanded.

“The idea is, if you can catch them barehanded, it’s easier to catch them with a glove,” he said.

They’ve done that drill almost every day, weather permitting. This is the work that allows Castellanos to swing and move freely. If he does these drills, then he can see ball, catch ball, or see ball, hit ball, when it matters the most. Keeping it simple is important for him. If anything, his walk-off hit reinforced that.

“I think having an opportunity to end the game made me get back to that simplicity,” he said.

He and the Phillies are hopeful it’ll stay that way. Castellanos entered the game batting .160/.250/.160 with 14 strikeouts in 50 at-bats. In a lineup that has struggled to slug consistently this month, Castellanos could make a real impact.

“He’s been grinding,” said manager Rob Thomson. “That was a big hit. I’m happy for him, I really am. He’s been working hard. Working on his swing, and hopefully he’s finding something.”

Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber were the only Phillies to record multiple hits. Schwarber reached base in all of his at-bats, going 3-for-3 with one RBI and two walks. The RBI came on his leadoff home run in the first inning. All of his at-bats Saturday came against lefties, a group that Schwarber has historically struggled against, but not this year.

He’s now hitting .448/.543/.655 against left-handed pitching. He believes his overall approach is the difference, rather than a sudden proclivity for southpaws.

“I guess you can say that the results are there,” Schwarber said. “There’s balls that are getting through, things like that. But I think the biggest thing that I want to find myself doing — overall in general, it doesn’t matter, right, left — is to swing at balls in the zone and to take balls out of the zone.

“Being able to control the zone and be aggressive in the zone is something I want to focus on. And I feel like if I can continue to do that — don’t get me wrong, chases are going to happen — if I can try to limit chasing and get the pitcher in the zone and have my swing with it, I want to take that chance every time.”

The Phillies finished their day with four runs on nine hits. It wasn’t an offensive shellacking by any means, but thanks to the bullpen, it didn’t have to be. Starter Spencer Turnbull struggled with his command, in part because of the windy conditions, and allowed three earned runs and four walks over four innings. Matt Strahm took over for him in the fifth inning following a two-run homer by Oneil Cruz and a walk, and retired all six batters he faced — five of them on strikeouts.

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“They were electric today,” Turnbull said of the bullpen. “They were nails tonight. I’m really appreciative of that, for sure.”

Gregory Soto entered after Strahm in the seventh, allowing one walk and one hit. José Alvarado pitch a 1-2-3 eighth, and Jeff Hoffman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. Both Alvarado and Hoffman recorded one strikeout.

“The entire bullpen did an unbelievable job,” Thomson said. “They were just fantastic. Kept us in it.”

It was a gritty team win, capped with a cathartic celebration in right field. Castellanos wouldn’t have it any other way.

“That’s a lot of fun when all of your friends are running at you, man,” he said. “That’s a good time.”