Phillies needed Castellanos, Rojas, bullpen to rocket past Braves into NLCS

PHILADELPHIA - Winning baseball games is a matter of mastering the moments and succeeding at the details.

The Phillies made sure to meet those lofty standards when it counted most Thursday, and soared into the National League Championship Series on the energy of that effort and 45,831 joyous witnesses.

Their 3-1 win over the Braves, who went from vaunted to vanquished in a matter of days, gave them a three-games-to-one verdict in the best-of-five NL Division Series for the second straight year. No doubt it left the Braves looking to identify culprits as the Phillies sailed into their clubhouse for a third beer-and champagne-soaked celebration.

The Phillies and their crowds, such as Thursday's noisy throng, that have become quickly captivated would have no trouble pointing out Thursday's saviors.

It came down to two swings by a player whose Phillies initiation a year ago left both he and fans unsatisfied, a center-fielder who was in Double-A until mid-July and a bullpen that has grown from baseball's worst to one of its best.

All made another magical night possible at Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies are now 6-1 all-time in clinchers.

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Nick Castellanos's fourth- and sixth-inning solo home runs made him the first player in Major League Baseball postseason history, which merely dates to 1903, to have multiple blasts in back-to-back games. He had two in Wednesday's 10-2 annihilation of Atlanta.

Afterward Thursday, Castellanos made somewhat of a surprising confession. The Braves' celebration after Bryce Harper was doubled off first base on Castellanos' flyout to end Game 2 Monday in Atlanta stirred his resolve and fueled his desire.

"I think that, watching when they celebrated when they doubled off Harper," he said, "and seeing everybody jump around and dance on the field as I was coming off, that was a good feeling to get coming back and playing baseball here."

Castellanos is a former first-round draft pick, two-time All-Star and career .276 hitter who bats seventh after a 2022 Phillies debut season that saw him drive in just 62 runs. He had 100 the year before in Cincinnati and 106 this year with the Phillies.

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He batted .391 in the NLDS.

"Nick had an unbelievable series," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "I'm really proud of him. He's had a great year. He's had some struggles at times, but he sure has come up big lately. And back-to-back nights, they score the first run, and he ends up hitting a home run the next half inning to answer, and that's huge."

Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies' president of baseball operations, was particularly pleased for Castellanos, who came up with the Tigers when Dombrowski was there.

"I'm really happy for him because I know last year was tough," Dombrowski said. "It was tough for him just because he's a better player than that. He knows it was a struggle to get it going, he didn't have that comfort zone, and all of a sudden he has it."

Johan Rojas saves the day

The main reason the two homers by Castellanos and the other by Trea Turner were enough for the Phillies' offense was Johan Rojas, the 22-year-old who leapfrogged Triple-A when he came to play center field in July. His running catch as he closed in on the center-field wall saved the game.

Likely National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr.'s smash came with two out and the bases loaded off Craig Kimbrell in the seventh. But Rojas was ready and he cemented his reputation as one of the best center fielders in the game.

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"I knew he was a pretty good hitter," the Spanish-speaking Rojas said through an interpreter. "I knew the bases were loaded. I worked really hard on my pre-pitch. I want to be ready at all times. That's my mindset when I go out there.

"If you want to score on me playing center field, you're going to have to hit a homer."

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Phillies' bullpen saves the game

Kimbrel had just walked the No. 9 hitter after relieving Jose Alvarado, who'd walked two, so the Phillies' bullpen certainly traversed the proverbial tightrope against the Braves' formidable lineup.

That continued in the ninth when the Braves put two on to start the inning and Thomson lifted Gregory Soto in favor of Matt Strahm, who got a popout, flyout and strikeout for the save to unleash the delirium.

It was the second game this series that the bullpen blanked the Braves in relief of starter Ranger Suarez, who had five sharp innings Thursday and 3⅔ Saturday in Game 1.

"It was a little unorthodox," Thomson said of using his usual late-inning relievers sooner, "but we got it done. And Strahm did an unbelievable job."

And the Phillies moved into their 11th, and second straight NLCS, knowing that the Arizona series, like this one, will require the same myriad of clutch contributions.

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Phillies down Atlanta Braves to win NLDS behind Castellanos, Rojas