August 9, 2024; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Adrian Del Castillo (25) throughout the ninth inning in opposition to the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Discipline Reacting after hitting a walk-off dwelling run within the sport. Necessary Credit score: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports activities Adrian Del Castillo reaches the majors as a result of Arizona beginning catcher Gabriel Moreno went on the ten-day injured listing earlier this week.
It solely took the 24-year-old two performs to etch himself into the Diamondbacks game-winner.
Del Castillo turned the primary participant in Diamondbacks historical past to hit his first profession dwelling run as Arizona defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 on Friday evening.
Now, Del Castillo will look to construct on his exploits with one other sturdy efficiency Saturday evening when the Diamondbacks face the Phillies within the third sport of a four-game sequence. The primary two video games have been evenly matched between the 2 groups.
Arizona head coach Tori Lovullo mentioned Moreno strained his left groin on Monday and will miss “a couple of weeks.”
Consequently, Del Castillo was known as up from Triple-A Reno, the place he batted .319 with 24 dwelling runs and 70 RBIs in 100 video games. Since becoming a member of the Diamondbacks, he is 4-for-7 with three RBIs, a double and a giant dwelling run.
“I obtained goosebumps, I do not even know the way to put it into phrases,” Del Castillo mentioned of his walk-off dwelling run in opposition to Philadelphia All-Star right-hander Jeff Hoffman. “Simply in search of the fastball on the plate, I obtained an excellent swing.”
The win was Arizona’s fifth in six video games. The Diamondbacks are 15-5 for the reason that All-Star break.
It is a kind of moments the workforce will not neglect in a season.
“For a younger participant, you may’t ask for a higher second than this,” Lovullo mentioned. “I am actually excited concerning the progress of the gamers. There have been a couple of minutes the place I felt like I used to be 18 once more.”
Joc Pederson additionally homered for Arizona, which defeated the Phillies in seven video games in final season’s Nationwide League Championship Collection.
Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler, who dominated the Diamondbacks within the 2023 postseason, homered to Pederson whereas permitting two runs and 7 hits in six innings.
“Three hits within the first inning wasn’t a giant hit,” Phillies supervisor Rob Thomson mentioned. “Even Pederson’s pitch wasn’t that dangerous, he simply beat him. He was struggling to seek out his distribution, which helps him in opposition to lefties, however he was efficient.”
Bryce Harper hit his twenty sixth dwelling run of the season and Johan Rojas had a run-scoring double for Philadelphia, which misplaced for the second time in six video games. .
A battle of right-handers looms on Saturday, pitting the Phillies’ Aaron Nola (11-5, 3.54 ERA) in opposition to the Diamondbacks’ Zach Gallen (9-5, 3.75).
Nola is winless in his previous 4 begins, permitting 4 runs and eight hits in six innings in Monday’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. His ERA throughout that span was 4.37.
Nola, 31, has a 2-2 report with a 7.67 ERA in 5 profession begins in opposition to the Diamondbacks. In final season’s NLCS, Nola went 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA in two video games in opposition to Arizona.
Josh Bell (6-for-33) hit two homers in entrance of Nola, whereas Pederson went 6-for-20 with a homer. Corbin Carroll went 2-for-12 and Randall Grichuk had no hits in 9 at-bats.
Gallen, 29, is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA in his previous 4 begins. He gave up 5 runs and eight hits in seven innings in opposition to the Cleveland Defenders on Monday.
Gallen struggled in opposition to Philadelphia within the 2023 postseason, giving up in two begins and posting a 7.36 ERA.
In 5 regular-season video games in opposition to the Phillies, Gallen was 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA. Harper went 8-for-17 with two dwelling runs off Gallen, whereas Kyle Schwarber (4-for-13) held him deep 3 times within the common season. Each sluggers hit two of Gallen’s dwelling runs within the NLCS.
Alec Bohm (0-for-9) and JT Realmuto (1-for-9) each struggled in opposition to Gallen.
–Scene-level media
