The Philadelphia Phillies stormed back in the bottom of the ninth inning yesterday to beat the Cincinnati Reds on a walk-off hit from Bryson Stott to win 3-2. 

After a slow eight innings where Reds’ starting pitcher struck out 12 over seven scoreless, followed by Alexis Diaz striking out the side in the Botton of the eighth, “The Fightins” returned with a vintage bottom of the ninth, starting with Nick Castellanos working a seven-pitch walk to lead off the inning. 

Nick Castellanos Walked to Lead Off the 9th Inning

Alec Bohm then stepped to the plate and Castellanos advanced to second on a wild pitch. Bohm then singled to send Castellanos to third base and from there, Castellanos put the Alexis Diaz in an absolute blender by walking halfway down the third base line, clapping at the Reds’ pitcher and even giving him a little wave to grab his attention ahead of Brandon Marsh’s RBI single to put the Phillies within one run. 

Nick Castellanos takes a huge lead at third base

Originally tweeted by Absolutely Hammered (@AH_Pod) on April 8, 2023.

Alexis Diaz steps off the mound, forcing a “disengagement”

Originally tweeted by Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) on April 8, 2023.

Brandon Marsh then hit a single to right field to score Castellanos, putting the Phillies within a run and runners on the corner. 

Brandon Marsh RBI Single – Reds 2, Phillies 1

Originally tweeted by Breaking Bats Podcast (@BreakingBatsPod) on April 8, 2023.

Nick Castellanos might have figured something out here with the shift ban and pitch clock. Look how far he was able to get down the third base line before Marsh hit him home.

Edmundo Sosa, like a true professional, scored Bohm on a sac fly to center on the first pitch of the at-bat to tie the game and Brandon Marsh swiped a bag to put a runner in scoring position for Bryson Stott. 

Edmundo Sosa – Sac Fly – Reds 2, Phillies 2

Originally tweeted by Barstool Philly (@BarstoolPhilly) on April 8, 2023.

Bryson Stott then stepped up to the plate and delivered the walk-off hit and just like that, after eight painful innings of Phillies baseball, The Fightins officially returned to Citizens Bank Park for the 2023 season. 

BRYSON STOTT. RING IT. https://t.co/d5f1nkyeZH

Originally tweeted by The Liberty Line (@LibertyLinePHL) on April 8, 2023.

After the game, Castellanos spoke with reporters and talked about his actions at third base, explaining that the shift the Reds team played allowed him to take as much of a lead as he wanted. From there, it was all about getting the attention of Diaz. 

It was definitely a new vibe from Nick Castellanos, who understandably, doesn’t really engage with the media like he did in the video above. As we all know, last year was tough on Castellanos but we have seen significant improvement this year both in his personality and play on the field. 

Nick Castellanos Swing Rate out of the Zone:

• 2022: 43.6%
• 2023: 26.8%

Ahead or even in count:

• 2022: 62.9%
• 2023: 76%

OPS .785 with his 2 doubles on Friday*

Phillies Lineup Today vs Reds

• SS Trea Turner
• DH Kyle Schwarber
• C J.T. Realmuto
• RF Nick Castellanos
• 2B Bryson Stott
• 1B Alec Bohm
• CF Brandon Marsh
• 3B Edmundo Sosa
• LF Jake Cave
• RHP Taijuan Walker