Castellanos' walk-off, bases-loaded single caps Phillies' 4-3 rally over Pirates

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Nick Castellanos hit a walk-off, bases-loaded single in the ninth inning, Kyle Schwarber homered and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Saturday.

Alec Bohm added an RBI for the Phillies, who moved over .500.

“It felt great because I knew it was good enough to be a sacrifice fly,” Castellanos said.

Oneil Cruz homered for Pittsburgh.

Schwarber led off the ninth with a single to right off Jose Hernandez (1-1), and Trea Turner walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. Both advanced on a wild pitch.

Hernandez struck out Bryce Harper for the first out, and Pirates manager Derek Shelton lifted Hernandez for Roansy Contreras. Pittsburgh intentionally walked Bohm to load the bases before Castellanos laced a first-pitch, 95-mph fastball over center fielder Jack Suwinski.

Castellanos is off to a slow start and raised his average to .182. He simplified things for the final at-bat.

“I didn't have an approach,” he said. “I was just ready to hit. I just wanted to win the game, bro. See the ball, hit the ball. I had an opportunity to win the game, and it made me get back to that simplicity.”

Jeff Hoffman (2-0) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to cap an impressive outing by Philadelphia’s relievers, who struck out seven, walked one and allowed one hit in five scoreless innings in relief of starter Spencer Turnbull.

“Thank God I have a great team behind me,” he said. “They were electric tonight.”

The contest was played on a cold, windy day in Philadelphia, where the game-time temperature was listed at 60 degrees but fans were bundled up with sweatshirts, jackets and hoodies that looked and felt more like a November football game.

Philadelphia tied it in the seventh on Bohm’s one-out RBI single off Aroldis Chapman, who labored through four batters. Chapman, battling control issues, walked Schwarber to lead off the frame. Schwarber went to second on a passed ball that originally was scored a wild pitch and was in motion toward third on Turner’s groundout. Chapman walked Harper to put runners on first and third before Bohm’s single.

Ke’Bryan Hayes’ RBI double in the first put the Pirates ahead 1-0. Schwarber began the bottom of the frame with a drive to deep left-center, his 33rd career leadoff homer and 20th with the Phillies.

“Just too much of the plate,” Pirates lefty Marco Gonzales said of the pitch.

Castellanos’ RBI single later in the first put Philadelphia ahead.

Cruz laced a two-run shot to the opposite field in left in the fifth off Turnbull to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead.

Gonzales pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He has a 2.65 ERA in three starts.

“Just confidence, confidence in our game plan,” he said.

After Turnbull gave up three runs in four innings and three batters, Matt Strahm, Gregory Soto, José Alvarado and Hoffman kept Pittsburgh off the board.

The game slowed down in the seventh inning when Soto had trouble with the audio communication device in his hat. Finally, after three separate mound visits and three different devices, second baseman Edmundo Sosa lent Soto his device and the game resumed.

UP NEXT

RHP Zack Wheeler (0-2, 1.89) takes the hill for the Phillies in the finale of the four-game series on Sunday against Pittsburgh RHP Mitch Keller (1-1, 5.29).

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