August 9, 2024; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Adrian Del Castillo (25) during the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field Reacting after hitting a walk-off home run in the game. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports Adrian Del Castillo reaches the majors because Arizona starting catcher Gabriel Moreno went on the ten-day injured list earlier this week.
It only took the 24-year-old two plays to etch himself into the Diamondbacks game-winner.
Del Castillo became the first player in Diamondbacks history to hit his first career home run as Arizona defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 on Friday night.
Now, Del Castillo will look to build on his exploits with another strong performance Saturday night when the Diamondbacks face the Phillies in the third game of a four-game series. The first two games were evenly matched between the two teams.
Arizona head coach Tori Lovullo said Moreno strained his left groin on Monday and could miss “a few weeks.”
As a result, Del Castillo was called up from Triple-A Reno, where he batted .319 with 24 home runs and 70 RBIs in 100 games. Since joining the Diamondbacks, he’s 4-for-7 with three RBIs, a double and a big home run.
“I got goosebumps, I don’t even know how to put it into words,” Del Castillo said of his walk-off home run against Philadelphia All-Star right-hander Jeff Hoffman. “Just looking for the fastball at the plate, I got a good swing.”
The win was Arizona’s fifth in six games. The Diamondbacks are 15-5 since the All-Star break.
It’s one of those moments the team won’t forget in a season.
“For a young player, you can’t ask for a greater moment than this,” Lovullo said. “I’m really excited about the growth of the players. There were a few minutes where I felt like I was 18 again.”
Joc Pederson also homered for Arizona, which defeated the Phillies in seven games in last season’s National League Championship Series.
Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler, who dominated the Diamondbacks in the 2023 postseason, homered to Pederson while allowing two runs and seven hits in six innings.
“Three hits in the first inning wasn’t a big hit,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Even Pederson’s pitch wasn’t that bad, he just beat him. He was struggling to find his distribution, which helps him against lefties, but he was effective.”
Bryce Harper hit his 26th home run of the season and Johan Rojas had a run-scoring double for Philadelphia, which lost for the second time in six games. .
A battle of right-handers looms on Saturday, pitting the Phillies’ Aaron Nola (11-5, 3.54 ERA) against the Diamondbacks’ Zach Gallen (9-5, 3.75).
Nola is winless in his past four starts, allowing four runs and eight hits in six innings in Monday’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. His ERA during that span was 4.37.
Nola, 31, has a 2-2 record with a 7.67 ERA in five career starts against the Diamondbacks. In last season’s NLCS, Nola went 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA in two games against Arizona.
Josh Bell (6-for-33) hit two homers in front of Nola, while Pederson went 6-for-20 with a homer. Corbin Carroll went 2-for-12 and Randall Grichuk had no hits in nine at-bats.
Gallen, 29, is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA in his past four starts. He gave up five runs and eight hits in seven innings against the Cleveland Defenders on Monday.
Gallen struggled against Philadelphia in the 2023 postseason, giving up in two starts and posting a 7.36 ERA.
In five regular-season games against the Phillies, Gallen was 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA. Harper went 8-for-17 with two home runs off Gallen, while Kyle Schwarber (4-for-13) held him deep three times in the regular season. Both sluggers hit two of Gallen’s home runs in the NLCS.
Alec Bohm (0-for-9) and JT Realmuto (1-for-9) both struggled against Gallen.
–Scene-level media
