PHILADELPHIA — Nick Castellanos grabbed a game-winning two-out single from Tylor Megill that scored Bryce Harper and sent the Philadelphia Phillies to a stunning 7-6 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday and tied the NL Division Series at one game apiece .
Castellanos threw away his helmet and was mobbed by teammates in the infield as a game that seemed to be slipping away an inning earlier culminated in yet another comeback for the NL East champions.
Megill retired the first two batters of the ninth and walked Harper, who also homered and scored twice. Castellanos, who also homered, followed with perhaps the hit of his Phillies’ career.
“Unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Castellanos said. “If he blows a fastball past me, that’s it. I’d rather have that than swing at something in the mud. It was unbelievable, but the series is tied. Now we go to New York and there’s still a lot baseball about.”
He fell behind 0-2, picked up a ball in the dirt, then pulled a hanging slider to his left and sent the towel-waving crowd at Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy.
“I just made a bad throw and backed up,” Megill said.
Game 3 is Tuesday in New York, the Mets’ first home game since September 22.
“Punch by punch the whole game,” Harper said. “That’s a big win going 1-1 to New York. I expect it will be quite a hostile environment and we’re looking forward to that.”
In the second postseason matchup between the NL East rivals, the Mets and Phillies were pushed from post to post over the final four innings, with each game-changing swing capped by an even more emotional swing.
Mark Vientos hit a pair of two-run homers for the Mets, who got solo shots from Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo.
Harper’s two-run homer and Castellanos’ solo drive in a three-pitch span from Luis Severino sparked the Phillies’ comeback from trailing 3-0 in the sixth inning.
“I missed my location and paid for it,” Severino said.
After Nimmo’s seventh-inning home run off Orion Kerkering gave New York a 4-3 lead, Bryson Stott hit a go-ahead, two-run triple down the right-field line on his 27th birthday after Harper walked and Castellanos singled off Edwin Díaz in a three-run eighth.
Díaz, who has a 9.37 ERA at Citizens Bank Park, threw 104 pitches in three games over a seven-day span.
“Harper’s walk – I think I was a little lazy on him instead of attacking him,” Díaz said.
Stott scored on a grounder for a 6-4 lead, but Vientos hit a two-run homer off Matt Strahm, an All-Star left-hander who failed the Phillies for a second straight game.
Harper pulled the Phillies out of their offensive slump when he homered 400 feet into the brush, right up the middle, as the fans roared.
NEXT
After a bad day Monday, the Phillies will send RHP Aaron Nola to the mound in Game 3 in New York on Tuesday. The Mets start LHP Sean Manaea.
