Plunk Castellanos, and Votto makes you pay

PHILADELPHIA -- Put simply, Joey Votto has Nick Castellanos' back.

Castellanos was hit by a pitch twice in Wednesday's loss to Atlanta. Each time, Votto followed with a two-run homer.

Back in the lineup Friday for the first time since that pair of plunkings, Castellanos was hit yet again -- this time by a 96.1 mph fastball in the left shoulder -- in the fourth inning of a 6-1 win against the Phillies. Votto checked on him, patted him on the backside and then, you guessed it, launched a three-run homer into the Philadelphia bullpen at Citizens Bank Park.

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Even more impressive, that all took place against National League Cy Young Award favorite Zack Wheeler. Castellanos got some revenge of his own two innings later, teeing off on a Wheeler curveball for a solo shot that left his bat at 107.6 mph. That marked the first time the Phillies’ ace had been tagged for multiple homers in his last 20 starts.

Votto, however, credits what happened just before Castellanos was hit for firing up the Cincinnati dugout. With the teams locked in a scoreless tie through three innings, Tyler Naquin chopped a grounder to first baseman Brad Miller to lead off the fourth. Naquin blitzed out of the box, reaching a sprint speed of 29.1 feet per second (just shy of Statcast's 30.0 threshold for elite speed) on his way down the line to beat Miller to the bag.

“That was awesome. That was game-changing, that was momentum-changing -- that was exactly what we needed at that time," Votto said. "... In my opinion, on the offensive side, that was a very important moment in the game. I fed off of that. And yeah, it was great. I loved it."

It all provided more than enough run support for Tyler Mahle, who turned in a Cy Young-caliber performance of his own opposite Wheeler. The Reds righty allowed just three hits while striking out seven -- and walking zero -- over seven scoreless innings. It was his second straight start without issuing a walk, something he did just twice in his first 22 outings this season.

“He’s had a lot of good ones, but I do think that it’s tough to think of one that was any better than that,” manager David Bell said. “That was outstanding. … Just a great game. He was locked in. He was even more locked in at the plate.”

Sure, Mahle went 0-for-2, but he did grind out a 10-pitch at-bat against Wheeler before ultimately grounding out on a play that required Phillies third baseman Ronald Torreyes to make a sharp barehanded play.

“I was probably more lucky than anything,” Mahle said. “He was throwing really hard and he threw some good pitches, and I was able to put the bat on the ball for a while. Then reality came there at the end. It was a cool at-bat.”

Friday marked the second time this season that Mahle has outdueled a Cy Young Award candidate. He tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings opposite then-Nationals ace Max Scherzer in a May 25 victory.

“It doesn’t matter really who is out there, we’re just trying to win a ballgame. I think all the pressure is on the offense, because they have to hit and put up runs to win,” Mahle said. “The pressure is not on me. … It’s cool to have those guys out there and it’s a fun matchup, but that’s the least of my worries."

Each of those duels came on the road, where Mahle himself has put up Cy Young-like numbers this season. He has a 1.86 ERA in 13 road outings, compared to a 5.74 ERA in 11 home starts.

He doesn’t put much stock in those numbers -- “It’ll probably even out” -- but he credits something else entirely for his success on Friday.

“Today was a huge game for me. It was my dad’s birthday and he told me to get a win for him. I just wanted to pitch well for him,” Mahle said. “Good thing it was on the road, I guess.”