Castellanos (slam, 7 RBIs) flexes in Reds' win

CINCINNATI -- As Phase 2 of voting for the All-Star Game starters began on Monday, Reds right fielder Nick Castellanos' performance against the Phillies was quite the statement that he belongs in the National League’s starting lineup.

In perhaps his most electric moment of an All-Star-worthy season, Castellanos slugged a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning and had a career-high seven RBIs during a 12-4 come-from-behind victory over the Phillies.

"He’s one of the best players in the league. He’s showing that," Reds manager David Bell said. "I know he’s driven to be the best, and that’s what it takes. He’s also driven like the rest of our team to see what we can be as a team. That really helps. That’s the right kind of motivation, and that makes Nick and the rest of our players better."

Philadelphia had a 4-2 lead in the seventh before the Reds pounded out 10 unanswered runs over the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings.

Phillies reliever Bailey Falter had done a nice job of keeping the Reds quiet for four innings, striking out six and yielding just one run. That all changed with one out when Alejo Lopez made his big league debut with a pinch-hit single to right-center field on the first pitch he saw from Falter in the seventh.

"Anything over the plate that I liked, I was going to hack," Lopez said. "It was a situation where you are supposed to be aggressive."

Veteran reliever Neftalí Feliz took over to make his first big league appearance since 2017, and the Reds pounced. Pinch-hitter Aristides Aquino drew a walk and Jesse Winker was hit by a 1-2 pitch to load the bases for Castellanos.

On a first-pitch slider from Feliz, Castellanos pulled a line drive to left field that hooked just foul on the dirt near the corner.

“Right after the foul ball, I was like, ‘[Golly], that was close.’ Then I kind of had to re-lock it in," Castellanos said. "The majority of the pitches that he threw that inning were heaters. So he kind of showed me his slider early and I took a good swing on it. I don’t want to say I guessed, but I was ready for a fastball.”

On the next pitch, Castellanos attacked Feliz's 97 mph fastball and drove it to center field. When it landed 412 feet from home plate, the Reds had their first grand slam of the 2021 season while 21,006 fans erupted with a euphoric roar at Great American Ball Park.

"Being a third batter and playing every day, that’s what I am supposed to do in those situations, which is to drive these guys in and give us a chance to win," Castellanos said. "Earlier in the year, I’ve had my stretches where, yeah, I’m getting hits and doubles and stuff. At pivotal points in the game, I wasn’t coming through. I just hang on to those moments a little bit harder than the others, because I know how important they are in the game."

The night turned into more of a celebration when the Reds added six more runs in the eighth inning -- including an RBI double by Castellanos and a solo home run by Joey Votto (his 999th career RBI) -- to more than put the game away.

As Castellanos batted, the crowd was chanting "M-V-P!" and it only got louder when he took third base on the throw to the plate as Jonathan India scored on the double.

“Cool. Not going to lie. Inspiring. It’s fun, man," Castellanos said of the chants.

The first runs of the game were also Castellanos' doing. He gave the Reds a 2-0 lead in the third inning with a two-run single against Phillies starter Spencer Howard.

“If one person can drive in seven runs, you’re probably going to end up with a victory," said Castellanos, who went 3-for-5 in the game to notch his Major League-leading 100th hit so far this season. Over 72 games, he’s batting .347/.398/.604 with 15 homers, 50 RBIs and a 1.002 OPS.

Since Monday's game was a makeup for a rainout on June 2, the Reds finally claimed two of three games in the series that began on May 31 against Philadelphia. Cincinnati also moved back over .500 record at 39-38 ahead of a three-game series vs. the red-hot Padres (47-33, 9-1 in their past 10) that opens on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park.

During the first round of All-Star voting, Castellanos finished second among NL outfielders with 1,797,818 votes, while Winker was third with 1,493,296 votes. Voting totals were reset for the second phase, which began Monday afternoon and will conclude at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday.

“I don’t really pay attention to any of that, honestly," Castellanos said. "I’m really happy that we were able to win this series against Philadelphia and have some good feelings going into this series against San Diego, which is pretty important.”