Rojas hits 1st HR of the season, Castellanos breaks hitting drought in Phillies' comeback win
Nick Castellanos has been having a bit of a rough year, but on Tuesday night he sparked a ninth inning rally that turned things around for the Phillies against the Los Angeles Angels.
The Phillies were down 5-4 with no runners on and one out. The Angels' closer, Carlos Estévez, was on the mound with one blown save on his record this season.
The Phillies would go on to add another.
Castellanos ripped the first pitch he saw into right field and leapt at home plate, pointing. He followed it up with an energetic trot around the bases.
Bryson Stott followed it up with a ground rule double and then scored on Johan Rojas' first homer of the season, a two-run shot that broke the tie.
Rojas was doused with water bottles after the game for his winning efforts.
To sum up, the Phillies avoided what would have been only their second back-to-back loss since March by hitting three extra-base hits on five pitches from the Angels closer Estévez.
"Huge, man, just to be able to come through, because I feel like there's so many spots this season where I haven't," said Castellanos, who had three hits to end his 3-for-27 skid over his past seven games. "So just to be able to pick them up, it feels great."
With the comeback, the Phillies became the first MLB team to reach 20 wins this season.
Luis Rengifo hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning for the Angels, who began another chapter of life without Mike Trout with an appropriately gut-wrenching defeat. Los Angeles has lost 10 of 12.
Before the game, the Angels announced Trout will undergo surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee. Trout, a New Jersey native and three-time AL MVP outfielder is out indefinitely with a major injury for the fourth consecutive season, and the surprising news had Trout holding back tears as he discussed it before the game.
Rengifo had three hits, Zach Neto also homered and former Phillie Mickey Moniak had an RBI single for the Angels.
"We squandered some opportunities early in the game, and then we came to life right there," Angels manager Ron Washington said. "(Rengifo) got us a three-run homer, put us ahead. We got to the position we wanted to be in. Just needed to get two more outs. We didn't get it."
Kyle Schwarber hit an early three-run homer for the Phillies, who have won 12 of their last 15. Alec Bohm's two-out RBI single in the eighth trimmed their deficit to 5-4.
José Alvarado (1-1) pitched the eighth and Jeff Hoffman earned his second save.
"I thought that was one of the better wins of the year, really," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "When you're winning games, it seems like it's a different guy every night, and that's a little bit of what we're getting. Everybody is contributing."
Tyler Anderson gave up three runs on five hits over six innings, striking out six for Los Angeles. Schwarber put Philadelphia up 3-0 in the second, hitting his eighth homer 421 feet to right.
Neto hit a solo shot in the third, but Phillies starter Spencer Turnbull largely stayed out of trouble until Taylor Ward's one-out single in the sixth chased him.
Trea Turner then booted Brandon Drury's grounder to shortstop instead of turning a fairly easy double play, and Rengifo crushed the next pitch by reliever Yunior Marte.
Cole Tucker doubled and scored on Moniak's single to put Los Angeles up 5-3. Moniak, the No. 1 overall draft pick by Philadelphia in 2016, is replacing Trout as the Angels' center fielder.
Turnbull yielded four hits and one earned run with six strikeouts.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: RHP Luis Ortiz's rehab assignment has been paused after he experienced tightness in his right shoulder during minor league appearances on his way back from a sprained left ankle.
Angels: Trout is expected back this season but there is no precise timeline, general manager Perry Minasian said. ... Trout went on the 10-day injured list, while INF Michael Stefanic and RHP Chase Silseth were moved to the 60-day IL to clear roster spots for 35-year-old veteran outfielder Kevin Pillar and left-hander Amir Garrett.
UP NEXT
Patrick Sandoval (1-4, 6.33 ERA) looks to turn around his poor start in the series finale. Philadelphia sends out Zack Wheeler (2-3, 1.93), who has thrown 13 1/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball in his past two starts.
