Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos. Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Phillies OF drastically flips script with clutch performance vs. Braves

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated Sep 2, 2024 9:59 AM ET

Beginning as early as Little League, baseball players are constantly told to "shorten up" their swing, "protect the plate" and go for "anything close" when they get behind in the count 0-2.

Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos had not one, but two clutch hits on "Sunday Night Baseball" in the team's 3-2 win against the Atlanta Braves and they're ones that would make his childhood coaches proud.

The two-time All-Star ripped a game-tying two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning on an 0-2 count.

Casty gets The Bank goin' pic.twitter.com/JSO8RCKOyi
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 2, 2024

He later sent a ringing game-winning RBI single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the 11th on another 0-2 setup.

THE GAME'S NOT OVER UNTIL CASTY SAYS IT'S OVER pic.twitter.com/a2TqQE0zMI
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 2, 2024

Castellanos has been coming through in the big moments all year for Philadelphia, recording four walk-off hits. Per NBC Sports Philadelphia's John Clark, the 2010 first-round pick is just the fourth Phillies player since 1920 with four walk-off hits in a single season.

Jayson Stark of The Athletic pointed out just how big Castellanos' 0-2 knocks were.

Nick Castellanos has fallen behind in the count 0-2 126 times this season.

Opening Day thru August:
123 PA, 4 RBIs

Last night:
3 PA, all 3 of his team’s RBIs
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) September 2, 2024

“It makes me want to take pitches so I have two strikes more often I think the thing that has gotten me the most comfortable in those spots is all the work I do on the field early. I don’t feel like I’m searching for a swing. I think that since we started doing that in May,… pic.twitter.com/kjjejNJJMf
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 2, 2024

With Sunday's win, Philadelphia took three out of four against Atlanta to move seven games ahead of the second-place Braves in the NL East.

Victor Barbosa

Victor Barbosa is a passionate follower of MLB, the NBA and NFL, with a deep interest in Boston-area teams. He graduated from Springfield College -- The Birthplace of Basketball -- in 2013 with a degree in Communications-Sports Journalism. Previous bylines include FanSided, Heavy and Syracuse

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