WATCH: NBC Sports Philly delivered an incredible angle of the Phillies dugout clearing against the Tampa Bay Rays

Last night down at Citizens Bank Park, things got heated between the Phillies and Rays when Tampa Bay’s Edwin Uceta drilled Nick Castellanos with a fastball in the eighth inning.

Uceta, who had just given up three earned runs, seemed to let his frustration boil over—and Nick Castellanos rightfully wasn’t having any of it.

Uceta’s ERA jumped from 0.75 to 1.49 and when Nick Castellanos stepped up to the plate, Edwin Uceta threw a 96.2 mph fastball right at him, plunking Castellanos on his left hip, which led to the benches and bullpens clearing.

Nick Castellanos HBP – Phillies and Rays Clear Benches

It was one of the fastest pitches of Uceta’s career — and it was the first batter he has hit this season. After the game, Uceta’s claimed it was a change-up and unintentional, but obviously that was complete bullshit.

Uceta surrendered a home run, two doubles and a single in the eighth inning to turn what was a close game at Citizens Bank Park into an easy win for the Phillies.

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The best angle of the benches clearing came from NBC Sports Philadelphia, who had the entire thing on tape straight from the Phillies’ dugout.

The Phillies didn't waste ANY time getting out on the field after Castellanos was hit 👀⚡ pic.twitter.com/G7rr6nwPkF

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) September 11, 2024

I mean you can’t really ask for anything better. This is exactly what you want to happen whenever your guy at the plate is getting plunked by a crybaby pitcher, right?

The Phillies emptied the dugout fast. Topper was locked in and immediately threw his hands up in disgust before running up the steps and out onto the field.

The stampede of players hopping the rail. Garrett Stubbs, buried in an iPad was definitely the best. You watch him look up, realize what was happening, then all 5’10”, 175 lbs of him storms up the steps to come to Castellanos’ aid.

WATCH: Benches clear in Phillies-Rays, Bryce Harper almost knocks out pitcher after Nick Castellanos HBP in 8th inning >>

Brandon Marsh rounds the corner and answers the call to arms, and even some dude in a blue shirt gets in the mix. Beautiful stuff from the Phillies.

Meanwhile on the field, I’m not sure there’s anyone more intimidating at the plate on the Phillies roster than Nick Castellanos.

Why Edwin Uceta decided he was the one to plunk is beyond me, even more so when you have Bryce Harper, a complete psychopath on second base losing his damn mind after it happened.

pic.twitter.com/da8wWmDRsP

— Baseball Paul (@paul_boye) September 11, 2024

I don’t know about you, but I thought FOR SURE that Harper was going to tackle Uceta or really, anyone on the Tampa Bay Rays that was near the mound.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen. Harper along with a bunch of Phillies are already dealing with injuries and with just 17 games remaining in the regular season, the last thing we need is some shitty pitcher throwing at our guys that causes a reaction where someone gets hurt even more than they already are.

The Tampa Bay Rays are a bad baseball team this season. Throwing at guys when your season is over and you have nothing left to play for is pretty pathetic and also probably the unfortunate reason the Phillies pitching staff will keep things cordial in the finale tonight with Zack Wheeler on the mound.

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At the very least, let’s just be happy that Edwin Uceta didn’t do enough to distract the Phillies last night and in all honesty, probably had the opposite effect.

The Fightins (literally) cruised to a 9-4 win to improve to an MLB-best 87-58 on the season with 17 games remaining in the regular season.

With the win, the Phillies now lead both the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves by eight games in the NL East standings with 17 remaining.

In the National League, the Phillies lead the Dodgers by one game for the top seed and also hold the best record in all of Major League Baseball at 87-58 on the season.

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