Castellanos and Marsh shift momentum in Phillies’ massive series-opening comeback originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
They fell behind by four runs, they stranded the leadoff man in four of the first five innings and it looked for a while like they were headed toward a second straight shutout loss, but the Phillies‘ lineup came roaring back in the bottom of the sixth and seventh to beat the Braves, 5-4, and start a pivotal four-game series on a high note.
For the second time in three games, Nick Castellanos delivered the game-changing swing. On Tuesday, it was a three-run homer off Justin Verlander. On Thursday, it was a game-winning two-run homer off right-handed reliever Grant Holmes with two outs in the seventh inning.
Castellanos has been money since the All-Star break. Over his last 40 games, he’s hit .293 with 12 doubles, a triple, seven homers and 30 RBI. Take it even farther back to Memorial Day and he’s hit .286 with an OPS well over .800.
The Phillies came into Thursday with a five-game lead over the Braves and knew that their advantage would be either one, three, five, seven or nine games depending on the result of the series. They now know that, at worst, they’ll end the weekend with a three-game lead.
“Down 4-0 in this type of series and the guys just kept coming,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I thought the at-bats were pretty good all night. We got (Charlie) Morton’s pitch count up pretty good, I don’t think we chased that much, six walks. They just kept battling.”
Brandon Marsh was just as instrumental in the win as Castellanos. The Phillies’ offense was lifeless for five innings, stranding four leadoff baserunners, three of whom reached scoring position. When Marsh stepped to the plate in the sixth inning, the Phils had gone 63 straight plate appearances without an extra-base hit and 14 straight innings without a run.
But after a brief mound visit, Morton finally paid for a lack of command. He walked four and hit a batter earlier in the game and left them all on base until Marsh finally broke through with a three-run homer to trim Atlanta‘s lead to one and make it a game again.
“There wasn’t a lot of life at all, really, and that kinda jump-started everything,” Castellanos said.
Marsh homered and doubled, both to the opposite field. Thomson has talked all season about that being the key for him when he’s in a rut.
“He’s just using the field,” Thomson said. “I know he’s swinging and missing a little bit but he’s using the field and that’s…