Nick Castellanos got his revenge on the Tampa Bay Rays, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning and later scoring the go-ahead run as the host Philadelphia Phillies completed a three-game sweep with a 3-2 win Wednesday.
The Phillies (88-58) moved to a season-high 30 games over .500, one night after the benches cleared in the eighth inning when Castellanos was hit by a pitch from Rays reliever Edwin Uceta. Uceta was suspended for three games earlier Wednesday by Major League Baseball, while Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash received a one-game ban.
Zack Wheeler (15-6) logged six solid innings for Philadelphia to win his third straight start. The bulk of the damage against him was inflicted by Jonathan Aranda, who doubled and homered for the Rays (71-75).
With the score tied at 2-2, the Phillies put together a two-out rally in the sixth against Drew Rasmussen (0-1). Castellanos walked and advanced to third on a base hit by Brandon Marsh. Weston Wilson then hit a slow roller into no-man’s land on the left side for an infield single, allowing Castellanos to score.
Matt Strahm, Jose Alvarado, and Carlos Esteves each pitched a scoreless innings to close it out.
Wheeler gave up two runs and four hits, striking out nine and walking three. Rays starter Shane Baz logged 5 1/3 innings, yielding two runs on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
Castellanos opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first — his 20th of the season. He got a 1-1 slider from Baz and hooked it just over the wall in left field for his first homer this month.
Wheeler walked the first two batters of the second inning and paid the price when Taylor Walls singled with two outs, trimming the Phillies’ lead to 2-1.
Wheeler allowed a leadoff triple to Brandon Lowe in the third but struck out the next three hitters to escape. He then worked around a leadoff double in the fourth, highlighted by second baseman Bryson Stott nabbing Aranda at the plate for the second out.
However, Aranda got to touch home plate two innings later as he homered to draw the Rays even at 2-2 in the sixth.
