Castellanos goes deep in Phillies win over Twins

Nick Castellanos blasted a second-inning home run and lesser-known players rallied in the seventh as the Phillies beat the Twins on Saturday, 3-2.

Here’s a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from the game:

The Good

• Castellanos’ dinger went 408 feet to left-center. It was the only hit that Twins starter Bailey Ober allowed in three innings of work. Ober struck out seven and walked none, flashing some newfound velocity. “If he’s gonna be 95-96, good luck to anybody in the [American League] Central,” said Bryce Harper about the big righthander.
• Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, Andrew Bellatti, Tyler McKay, and Andrew Baker combined for this line: 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 5 BB, 5 K. Gregory Soto also pitched a scoreless inning, allowing two hits but inducing a double play to get out of trouble in the fifth.
• Whit Merrifield started the game at third base, a position he hasn’t played in the regular season since 2017. Merrifield has just 31 total innings of experience at the hot corner in his career. But he looked fine there today, fielding a tough pop-fly over his shoulder on the first play of the game.
• After six innings, the Phillies had just two hits and trailed 2-1. But the players with high numbers on nameless jerseys came to the rescue. Catcher William Simoneit and infielder Trevor Schwecke singled, then first baseman Felix Reyes doubled them home. McKay and Baker closed it out from there.

The Bad

• Phillies starter David Buchanan pitched better than he did in his previous start, but still allowed two hits, a walk, and a run in two innings.
• Jose Alvarado served up a home run to Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers. Afterwards, manager Rob Thomson said he thought Alvarado pitched well. “Really good today. 3-2 heater, guy just jumped on it . . . his command on his cutter wasn’t all that sharp but, all in all, he was really good.”
• Liam Castellanos, the young prince of Philadelphia, slipped up in his bat boy role when the elder Castellanos hit the home run. As Nick rounded third base and reached home, he saw that Liam had forgotten to retrieve his bat, creating an adorable parenting moment. Luckily, it’s still spring training. Liam has plenty of time to get it together.

The Ugly

• Kyle Schwarber struck out in both his at-bats. He has one hit and six strikeouts in ten ABs to start the spring. To be clear: there’s no cause for concern. Schwarber goes through stretches like this regularly, then rebounds to go on a home run tear. But it’s been ugly so far.

The Phillies play the Braves Sunday at CoolToday Park in Venice, FL. 1:05 p.m. start.