Nick Castellanos issues warning for the Mets before NLDS Game 4
By Matt Ehalt,
11 hours ago
The Mets don’t want to feel the Brotherly Love again.
That’s the warning Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos issued to his rivals with the Phillies now facing an elimination Game 4 on Wednesday with the Mets leading the NLDS, 2-1, after Tuesday’s 7-2 win .
“Instead of just flushing it and forgetting it, I think, right now, it’s really important to embrace what the situation is,” Castellanos said after Game 3 loss . “We lose, we’re going home. Baseball’s over for us.
“It’s a great opportunity because if we’re able to come in and scrape out a win here, I know that they do not want to go back to Philly for a Game 5.”
Castellanos certainly makes a fair point, although it might just be nothing more than an attempt to rally the troops after a lifeless showing Tuesday.
The Phillies own one of the best home-field advantages in MLB after going 54-27 at Citizens Bank Park this season and, in theory, would have Zack Wheeler waiting in Game 5.
Wheeler dominated the Mets in Game 1 before the bullpen coughed up the lead in a 6-2 Mets win and the Phillies would surely be favored at home.
Nick Castellanos hopes the Phillies can return to Philadelphia for Game 5. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
But the Phillies first have to get there and that falls on Castellanos and an anemic offense to show signs of life.
Philadelphia has scored just one run spanning the first five innings of each of the three games (15 innings total) and seemingly has no answers for the Mets’ starting pitching.
That statistic is even more damning since that lone run came on Kyle Schwarber’s leadoff home run in Game 1.
Castellanos, the Game 2 hero, had a chance to deliver another crushing blow to the Mets on Tuesday night when he came to the plate in the sixth with two on and one out in a 2-0 game.
He instead hit into a double play on a low liner and the Mets tacked on two runs in the bottom of the inning to essentially ice the game.
If Castellanos and the Phillies’ offense, which is slashing .204/.304/.337/.641 in the series, don’t show more fight in Game 4, his threat will be all for naught.
Citizens Bank Park is a tough place to play in October. Laurence Kesterson/UPI/Shutterstock
“Well, as a group, this is the closest to death we’re ever going to get, so in a way, we should feel the most alive,” Castellanos said. “We’re only promised tomorrow and this is what we’ve been working since spring training for, to have this opportunity. It’s just one more time to show out and leave everything on the field and however the dice is going to land, it’s going to land.”
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