Nick Castellanos' game-winning RBI double lifts Philadelphia Phillies past Padres in 9th inning
Nick Castellanos hit a bloop ground-rule double down the right field line to cap four consecutive ninth-inning hits and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied from a two-run deficit for a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
Kyle Schwarber hit an eighth inning solo home run for the Phillies, who can finish off a season series sweep over San Diego on Wednesday. The Padres have now lost five in a row.
Jeff Hoffman (3-0) got the win while the Padres' Robert Suarez (4-1) blew his first save in 19 opportunities this season.
Luis Campusano had a two-run homer off Aaron Nola to kick start San Diego's sixth inning that gave them a 3-1 lead.
Schwarber's solo homer with two outs in the eighth cut the deficit to 3-2. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm singled to lead off the ninth. Bryson Stott followed with an opposite-field single that tied the game at 3. Castellanos sent a ball down the line that eluded David Peralta, sneaking just inside the chalk line before bouncing into the stands.
Nola retired the first 13 hitters in order and had faced the minimum amount of hitters through five after a strikeout/caught stealing double play ended the fifth. But after issuing a leadoff walk to Peralta to start the sixth, Campusano lofted a fastball to deep center that just got over the outstretched glove of Cristian Pache for his fifth homer of the year to give San Diego a 2-1 lead.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: J.T. Realmuto met the media for the first time since having meniscus surgery on his right knee last Wednesday, reaffirming the original timeline of four weeks that the club provided last week on the veteran catcher.
"I had this exact same procedure done in 2019 after the season and I was able to recover from that pretty quickly," Realmuto said. "I would imagine around that four week mark should be around that timing."
Realmuto — who is hitting .261 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 51 games — said the original injury occurred when he slipped rounding the bases on a triple during wet field conditions on May 4 against San Francisco. After trying to play through the pain, Realmuto and Phillies officials decided to have the cleanout procedure following the team's trip to London two weeks ago.
Garrett Stubb and Rafael Marchan are starting in Realmuto's place.
UP NEXT
Philadelphia will send LHP Ranger Suárez (10-1, 1.77 ERA) up against San Diego RHP Matt Waldron (4-6, 3.66) on Wednesday in the series finale.