D-backs reliever Humberto Castellanos gets 1st win of his career

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Humberto Castellanos was outstanding on the mound and with the bat in his second career start as he paved the way to a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field on Wednesday night.

Castellanos registered his first career win and hit in this game.

The D-backs are now 17-5 against the Phillies dating back to the start of the 2017 season, and they are 5-1 on this current seven-game homestand.

Castellanos entered the game with a 2.30 ERA this season in eight appearances, which includes four scoreless innings in his first career start on July 7 against the Colorado Rockies.

His only blemish of the outing happened right out of the gate when Phillies leadoff batter Odúbel Herrera tripled in the first inning and scored on a passed ball two batters later.

Castellano’s curveball seemed unhittable at times as he kept Phillies batters off balance with a steady variety of off-speed pitches and fast balls.

While he wasn’t piling up the strikeouts, he was putting zeros on the board. He was also getting some great defense behind him.

Castellanos gave Lovullo and the D-backs 5.1 strong innings, allowing one earned run and three hits with a strikeout and two walks.

“He came in very focused and ready and was on the attack,” manager Torey Lovullo said on his outing.

“He regrouped after the leadoff triple and did a really nice job of pitching into the sixth inning. And that’s what we ask out guys to do.”

Also, Castellanos can rake. The 23-year-old went 2-for-2 at the dish with an RBI, contributing to this win in more ways than one. The hits were the first of his career.

“Offensively, the league is going to know it now. He’s just a good hitter. There’s no doubt about it,” Lovullo added.

First baseman Christian Walker, who went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a walk, and third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, who was 2-for-4, were the only other players to have multiple hits.

The D-backs had plenty of traffic on base, and they were able to convert enough of those to win the ballgame. Shortstop Nick Ahmed walked in the third inning and eventually scored on a wild pitch by Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez.

Catcher Carson Kelly added an RBI single in the fifth that scored centerfielder Ketel Marte to give Arizona a two-run lead.

Right fielder Pavin Smith added a single in the seventh, stole second base, and scored on an RBI single by Walker that increased the breathing room for the D-backs.

The Phillies added a solo home run off the bat of Herrera in the eighth against reliever Caleb Smith, but that’s all they got against the former starter. Smith picked up where Castellanos left off and gave the D-backs 2.2 innings, allowing just the home run with two strikeouts and a walk.

But an odd moment happened after the eighth inning when third base umpire Phil Cuzzi was examining Smith’s glove and determined there was something substantial enough to confiscate it, handing it over to an MLB official.

Smith was ejected from the game and had to be restrained during the umpire’s discussion about the glove. The punishment for a prohibited substance is a 10-game suspension.

“It’s dirt,” Smith said on the foreign substance. “Last time I checked, we play baseball. I mean, you get dirty in baseball. You sweat a lot. I touch the dirt a lot. There’s not a foreign substance on there. There’s not pine tar. There’s nothing on there. I don’t use that.”

Smith admitted to being very surprised by the accusation and that he would need to break in a new glove. “Nothing changed between the time he checked it the first time and the last time he checked it and had a problem with it. I have no clue.”

Tom Hallion, the crew chief of this game, was also the crew chief when the first suspension under the increased enforcement was handed out to Hector Santiago of the Seattle Mariners.

“Look I believe my player,” Lovullo said on the accusations. “I’m going to stand by my player. He told me that there was nothing malicious happening. I asked to see his hand and his hand was bone dry. He just maintained that those little areas, those little hot spots, were a result of the rosin bag and it’s in the league hands right now.”

Tyler Clippard notched his fourth save of the season.

UP NEXT

The D-backs will look to sweep the series with the Phillies in the finale on Thursday afternoon. Madison Bumgarner will be on the bump for Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. and can be heard on ESPN 620 AM.

In his last six starts, Bumgarner has been extremely good, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.09 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP in 38.2 innings pitched. This will be his first start against the Phillies since 2019.

Follow @Cap_Kaveman