Nick Castellanos Makes Baseball History As Phillies Topple The Mighty Braves

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Smooth and casual and violent, like a Floyd Mayweather right hook, Nick Castellanos whipped the barrel of the bat through the night and sent a Spencer Strider fastball careening into the left field bleachers. He walked slowly across home plate and looked into his dugout, where his teammates were roaring and pounding on the railing.

He nodded, expressionless. He seemed to shrug. No batflip. No matching scream. No antics. The understated walk of the year.

Two innings later he did the exact same thing again. The whipping swing. The slow walk. The dugout glance. The stadium's Phantavision went to his son Liam, who had his hands on his head in disbelief. The city exploded.

The two solo home runs by Castellanos were all the Phillies needed to topple the Braves, 3-1 in the game and 3-1 in the series. For the second straight year, they have taken down a 100 win behemoth, considered by some to be considered the greatest offense of all time, on their way to the National League Championship Series.

Castellanos, who also hit two home runs on Wednesday night, became the first player in baseball history to achieve the feat in back to back postseason games.

Postseason baseball has been around since 1903.

The win also improved the Phillies playoff record at the raucous thunderdome of Citizens Bank Park to 26-11. That's the best record any home team has in any stadium in baseball playoff history.

On a historic night, it took an entire team's effort. Ranger Suarez was near perfect, allowing just three hits and one home run in five innings. Five different relievers contributed to a scoreless final four innings. When the Braves loaded the bases with walks in the 7th, Johan Rojas tracked a long drive from Ronald Acuna Jr. into left center, leaping up and slamming into the wall as he caught it.

The Phillies will have home field advantage in the NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They'll host Game 1 on Monday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m, and Game 2 on Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. Games 3, 4, and 5 are Oct. 19-21 (time to be determined) in Arizona, and Games 6 and 7 would be back in Philadelphia on Oct. 23-24, if neccessary.