Five Phillies hit home runs in 9-3 rout of Padres

SAN DIEGO — In the third inning on Friday night, Nick Castellanos took a swing that felt familiar to him. When he is at his best, the game is a game and his swing feels effortless. He took some of those swings in Cincinnati, but didn’t have results to show for them. On Friday, he did.

He stood in the box against Padres righty Joe Musgrove, swung at a slider, and drove the next pitch — a slider inside — 398 feet to left center field. A few hours later, he let out a deep sigh.

“It felt great,” he said. “It felt like the swings that I’ve been taking for the past week or so. And so to be able to connect with one, to stay behind, and through an off speed pitch … it’s a good sign.”

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The Phillies shellacked Musgrove and the Padres on Friday, hitting five home runs in a 9-3 win, but Castellanos’ shot seemed to carry more resonance. As he jogged around the bases, his teammates gathered in the dugout stairwell. Hitting coach Kevin Long yelled “Let’s go!” Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber eagerly gave him hugs and high fives.

It meant a lot to him.

“It’s a hard game,” he said, “but when they feel my success as their own success, and I feel their success as my success, that’s just recipe for good camaraderie. And I think it just speaks to what we’ve been able to create here over the past couple years.”

Castellanos’ teammates know what it is to be mired in a slump, and he has been in one for about a month. He entered this weekend with only one extra base hit — a triple that he knocked to right field on April 20 — coupled with a .177/.233/.198 slash line.

He has been chasing and swinging at a high rate with not much to show for it, but earlier this week, the Phillies’ rightfielder said he was encouraged. His manager was too. It’s part of the reason why Rob Thomson has been steadfastly keeping Castellanos in the lineup. He trusts him, but he also sees his hitter gradually getting back to himself.

“Once a game he’s hitting the ball hard,” Thomson said. “He’s lofting the ball to the middle of the diamond. And I always think that’s an indicator that guys are coming out of, not a slump, but their swing is getting better.”

Castellanos finished his day 1-for-5, but was happy with a few other at-bats. He liked the swing he took on Jeremiah Estrada’s 97 mph fastball away in the fifth inning. He liked his first at-bat, because he laid off two sliders away to get into a more favorable count.

“Now, I think it’s just the more relaxed I am when I see the ball, the more I’m able to have everything work towards the middle of the field,” he said. “And hopefully in time, those sinkers that are down and in, I’m staying inside of, instead of hooking them down the first baseline.”

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He’s been putting his energy into how he feels, which can be frustrating without results. But on Friday, he got them, even if just for one jog around the bases.

“I think anytime you get confidence, that builds you up a little bit,” he said. “It lets you smile a little bit. Get the happiness out. Like I said before, happy people hit better.”

It was a good overall night for the Phillies, who are now 17-10, their best record through their first 27 games since 2011. Schwarber hit a leadoff home run off of Musgrove, his 100th with the Phillies. Brandon Marsh hit an RBI double to give his team an early 2-0 lead.

Harper hit a solo home run to right field in the third, Marsh hit his two-run shot, and Castellanos piled on, giving the Phillies a 6-0 lead by the third inning. An Alec Bohm RBI single in the fourth made it 7-1, and for good measure, J.T. Realmuto piled on in the top of the seventh, hitting a two-run home run to give the Phillies a 9-1 lead.

By the end of the night, eight of the Phillies’ nine hitters had recorded at least one hit, three had recorded multiple hits, and five hit a home run. Bohm went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a strikeout, Realmuto went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk, and Marsh went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. The Phillies grounded into no double plays, and went 3-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

“They didn’t chase,” Thomson said. “Musgrove had 77 pitches after three innings so, I mean, what didn’t I like, is the question. And [the answer is] nothing. I just thought up and down the lineup they were grinding at-bats, and he’s got good stuff. He’s been around for a while. Experienced guy. He knows how to pitch and we grinded on him. It was good to see.”

Aaron Nola made the start, and gave the Phillies eight solid innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts. Two of those three earned runs came on a two-run home run he allowed to Graham Pauley in the bottom of the seventh.

For the most part, Nola was efficient with his pitches. He needed just seven to get through the first and fourth innings, and finished his night at 106. He was helped by some good defense behind him. Marsh made a nice jumping catch at the wall in the bottom of the sixth to rob Jake Cronenworth of a home run, and Bohm made some nice plays at third base.

“They did a heck of job,” Nola said of the defense. “Bohm sticks out, obviously, to me — making those diving plays at third. Castellanos made a great catch at the wall and Marshy made a great catch, too. Overall great defense.”

Seranthony Domínguez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with one strikeout to end the game. He was coming off of a rough outing on April 24 in Cincinnati, and Thomson wanted to use him in a lower leverage spot.

“He performed, so that was good to see,” Thomson said. “Hopefully he’ll gain some confidence from that.”

In the bottom of the second inning, Jurickson Profar grounded out and collided with Harper when he reached first base. He hit Harper’s wrist. Harper was looked at by trainers but remained in the game (and hit the aforementioned home run in his next at-bat). Thomson said he is fine.

“It was his wrist,” Thomson said. “He caught the ball just as Profar was coming down the line. Profar didn’t hit him on purpose. They just collided.”