It really could have been one of those classic Phillies losses, but Nick Castellanos had other ideas.
In Wednesday’s game against their NL East rival Braves, the Phillies let a four-run lead slip away and were on the verge of a deflating loss with a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the ninth. Luke Williams — who entered the game as a pinch runner — stole second and third to set up a potential walk-off AB for Orlando Arcia.
And for a moment, it appeared that Arcia had done the job thanks to a mistake from Castellanos.
When Arcia drifted a foul ball medium depth near the right-field line, it would have been the smart play for Castellanos to let the ball drop to the ground. His momentum was taking him away from home plate, and it would have taken a perfect throw to get out Williams. Why risk it? Even the Phillies broadcast with John Kruk was begging Castellanos to let the ball go.
Instead, this happened:
GAME SAVING THROW FROM NICK CASTELLANOS pic.twitter.com/IcPUUBeGg7
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 20, 2023
To Kruk’s utter disbelief, Castellanos went ahead and caught the ball. In a seamless motion, he spun and fired an absolutely perfect throw home to get out Williams. The throw needed to be on the money, and Castellanos gave them just that.
With Ronald Acuña Jr. on deck, it was an odd send for the Braves, and that slide should have been head first. But again, it was tough to expect that kind of perfect throw from Castellanos given how he caught the ball moving away from the plate.
Well, Castellanos’ decision paid off because the Phillies scored two in the top of the 10th inning and held on to win, 6-5.
Fans couldn’t believe the throw (or call!) either.
This was how Twitter reacted
A classic "No, no, no, no, n–YES!" play. Great throw by Castellanos. https://t.co/W6EwLIDylp
— Ian Casselberry (@iancass) September 20, 2023
Commentator went from “let it go let it go” to “yeaaaahh” 😭😭 https://t.co/I3anU3KVCw
— EMILIO PUCCI (@YoungDontPlay) September 20, 2023
screaming “YEAAA” as a sports broadcaster is hilarious lmfao have some shame https://t.co/KjqGeGi1eX
— 🍀 Francisco Alvarez Fan (@FanOfChicken4) September 20, 2023
finally we have the "no no no no YES" equivalent of a badly hoisted up three-pointer in basketball https://t.co/bE6T4cZJZf
— The Chorker (@cdgoldstein) September 20, 2023
We don't talk enough about the roller coaster that is Nick Castellanos's defense https://t.co/sJqNtmqm6m
— H. José Bosch 🇵🇷 (@HJBosch21) September 20, 2023
Bottom of the 9th. Tie game. One out. Winning run on third. Foul ball. Catch it and the runner tags up and you might lose the game. Did Castellanos let it drop? Nope. https://t.co/U7fr4qKlVR
— Andrew Ungvari (@DrewUnga) September 20, 2023
What a play by Castellanos – running right through the Krukker's stop sign! 😆 https://t.co/pKb5hANrfU
— Seaη O (@seanodotcom) September 20, 2023
John Kruk represented all of us in that call. https://t.co/NbItlqs1vk
— Ramón (@kip_think) September 20, 2023
Kruk is hilarious https://t.co/fTuiQWNCWN
— Bobby (@BDL12_) September 20, 2023
