Castellanos plates three, Phillies hold off Braves to open NLDS

ATLANTA (AP) — Nick Castellanos had already carried quite a load with his bat.

When the Philadelphia Phillies needed his glove in the ninth inning, he didn't let them down.

Castellanos drove in three runs and made a potentially game-saving catch, lifting the Philadelphia Phillies over the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves 7-6 in the opener of their NL Division Series on Tuesday.

The Phillies have won three straight games to begin these playoffs, hardly looking like a team making its first postseason appearance since 2011. They followed up their wild-card sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a victory over the team that finished 14 games ahead of them in the NL East.

It wasn't easy. Matt Olson hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Zach Eflin to bring the Braves within a run.

But Castellanos, capping off a brilliant all-around day, made a sliding catch in right field for the second out to help snuff out the comeback — a clutch play from a player frequently maligned for his defense.

“Do anything I could to not let it hit the ground,” Castellanos said of his mindset.

He sprawled out on the grass — arms raised above his head, the ball securely in his glove — before rolling over and flipping it back to the infield.

Castellanos appears to be finding his groove after missing most of September with an oblique injury.

“I hope that’s the start of something, because he’s been out for a long time,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Maybe he’s really getting his timing back now.”

Alec Bohm added two RBIs for the Phillies, who built a 7-1 lead by the top of the fifth and made it stand up against a Braves lineup that squandered numerous chances to get back in the game earlier.

Travis d'Arnaud homered and drove in the other