ATLANTA — After stroking a single to left field for his third hit in as many at-bats Tuesday and the one that broke open Game 1 of this National League division series, Nick Castellanos whipped his right hand in the air and brought it down across the script “Phillies” logo on his chest.
And then, honest to goodness, he smiled.
OK, so maybe it was more of a tight-lipped smirk. But Castellanos definitely looked happy, or at least satisfied, as sure a sign as there is that good times really are rolling for the Phillies.
How could things be better? Think about it: Not only did the Phillies punch first against the Atlanta Braves, knocking out tough lefty Max Fried in the fourth inning and holding on for a 7-6 victory, but they will send ace Zack Wheeler to the mound Wednesday with a chance to take a commanding lead in the best-of-five divisional round.
If ever any team could say it has the 101-win, defending World Series champion Braves right where it wants them, well, the Phillies might as well go ahead and say it.
Sure, there were some tense moments along the way in Game 1, none more than after Zach Eflin allowed a three-run homer to Braves first baseman Matt Olson to narrow the lead to one run.
But after stirring the offense, Castellanos, not known at all for his defense, settled stomachs with a sliding catch in right field to take a hit from William Contreras for the second out of the ninth inning.
Ranger Suárez loaded the bases in the first and third innings but Houdini’d his way out of them without allowing a run. Suárez lacked his usual command, threw 86 pitches in 3⅓ innings, and forced the Phillies to turn to the soft underbelly of the bullpen for five outs in the middle of the game.
Even the most fatalistic Phillies fan couldn’t have worried too much about the outcome. Not after a lineup that produced a total of eight runs in two wild-card series victories over the St. Louis Cardinals busted out for two runs in the first inning, two in the third, and two in the fourth against Fried en route to a 6-1 lead that hushed the sold-out crowd of 42,641 at Truist Park.
The offense ran through Castellanos for a change, just as the Phillies imagined it might in many high-scoring games this season. But after signing him to a five-year, $100 million contract in spring training, they got paltry production. He finished the regular season with 13 homers, his lowest output since 2014, and a career-worst .694 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Castellanos got off to a slow start and only made things worse by putting extra pressure on himself. In July, personal hitting coach Matt Martin said Castellanos “thinks he’s letting [president of baseball operations] Dave Dombrowski down, the owner down, his teammates down, the fans down, everybody down.”
Martin, Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long, and others told Castellanos that he could erase that feeling with a strong stretch run. Instead, he missed time in September with a strained oblique muscle in his right side. He rushed back for the final 10 games of the season and went 0-for-7 in the wild-card series against the Cardinals.
But all it takes to change the narrative are a big postseason moment or two. Like inside-outing a first-pitch fastball from Fried and dropping it into right field for a two-out RBI single in the first inning. Or bashing a double off the right-field wall and scoring a run in the third inning. And shooting a Fried cutter past the outstretched glove of a diving infielder and into left field for a two-run single in the fourth.
Fried lasted only 3⅓ innings, his shortest start in the regular season or playoffs since April 7, 2021. The Phillies did most of their damage without flexing. They had eight hits against Fried, including four two-out singles in the first inning. And they played small ball. Bryce Harper dropped a sacrifice bunt (really) that led to a run in the third inning, while Matt Vierling did the same in the fifth.
The Phillies will hand the ball to Wheeler now, and that should put a lump in the Braves’ throats. He was born a few miles from Truist Park and grew up about an hour away. His family still lives here and will attend Game 2. Wheeler was nearly drafted by the Braves in 2009, made his major-league debut against them, and has a 2.04 ERA in 10 starts against his hometown team since joining the Phillies in 2020.
