Nick Castellanos single lifts Phillies to walk-off win over Pirates

With one swing, Nick Castellanos turned jeers to cheers.

After being booed following a strikeout in the seventh inning, Philadelphia Phillies fans celebrated when Castellanos delivered the winning single for a 4-3 walk-off win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

After striking out to strand two runners in the seventh, Castellanos became the unlikely hero of a Phillies comeback with his hit to center off Roansy Contreras in the bottom of the ninth.

And Aroldis Chapman became the unexpected goat. The seven-time All-Star walked two batters and gave up the tying run on an Alec Bohm single in the seventh for a blown save. After dominating his first six appearances this season, the left-hander also allowed two walks to the Phillies on Friday night.

“It’s the first time he’s been back-to-back,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “He just looked a little out of sync. You get the two guys at the top of this order that make you work. Chappy’s been good. That was just kind of a blip.”

The Pirates (10-5) scored first against Phillies starter Spencer Turnbull, who hadn’t allowed an earned run in his first two starts. Bryan Reynolds drew a full-count walk, and Ke’Bryan Hayes followed with an RBI double to right-center for a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

The Phillies (8-7) answered immediately. Kyle Schwarber blasted Marco Gonzales’ 0-1 curveball 424 feet to center for a leadoff home run to tie the score. Trea Turner doubled to left and scored on a two-out single to left by Castellanos for a 2-1 lead.

“This guy can hit,” Shelton said of Schwarber, who went 3 for 3 with two runs scored. “You’re talking about a really elite hitter, a guy that’s hit 40-plus homers multiple years. You cannot make mistakes to him. I think we saw that today.”

The Pirates went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position, stranding a pair in the third. After Reynolds worked a nine-pitch at-bat for a two-out walk, Turnbull walked Hayes on four pitches and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. But Turnbull got Jack Suwinski looking at a sweeper for a called third strike.

It happened again the fourth, when Connor Joe reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a throwing error. Turnbull recovered from a 3-0 count to get Henry Davis looking at a full-count sweeper at the bottom of the strike zone for the third out.

After Alika Williams singled up the middle to start the fifth, Oneil Cruz didn’t miss his chance. Cruz connected on Turnbull’s 2-0 sinker outside for a 369-foot opposite-field homer to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead.

Turnbull walked Reynolds before Phillies lefty Matt Strahm got Hayes to fly out then struck out Suwinski and Edward Olivares to end the frame. Strahm killed the momentum by striking out the side in the sixth.

Gonzales held the Phillies to two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five in six innings before giving way to Chapman in the seventh. It was the second consecutive quality start for Gonzales, who got nine whiffs with his changeup.

“He continued to be strong,” Shelton said. “I thought the best changeups he threw were in the sixth. He really did a nice job. He kept them at bay. We’re talking about a really good lineup. After the first inning he settled in and did a really nice job.”

Chapman walked Schwarber, who advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a groundout, then scored to tie the game on Bohm’s single through short that was the first hit allowed by Chapman this season.

Colin Holderman replaced Chapman, struck out Castellanos and got pinch hitter Bryson Stott to fly out to center to strand two runners.

After using David Bednar for the ninth-inning save in Friday’s 5-2 win, Shelton said the All-Star closer was available in save situations before adding, “We just didn’t get to that point.”

Instead, Shelton turned to lefty Jose Hernandez to face the top of the Phillies’ order. Schwarber singled to right, Turner drew a walk and both advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch.

Hernandez (1-1) struck out Bryce Harper for the first out before Shelton brought in Contreras. After an intentional walk of Bohm, Castellanos hit a deep fly over Suwinski in center to drive in the winning run.

“Their entire lineup is really good,” Gonzales said. “With them it is a game of momentum. You can’t let them get too many guys on base and let them get rolling, so after the first we really thought we needed to shut down and just hold them instead of them being able to score a couple more runs.”