Adrian Del Castillo is in the major leagues because Arizona starting catcher Gabriel Moreno went on the 10-day injured list earlier this week.
It took the 24-year-old just two games to etch himself in Diamondbacks’ lore.
Del Castillo became the first player in Diamondbacks history to hit a walk-off blast for his first career homer as Arizona recorded a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.
Now, Del Castillo will look to follow his exploits with another strong outing when the Diamondbacks face the Phillies on Saturday night in the third contest of the four-game series. The teams split the first two games.
Moreno sustained a left groin strain on Monday and could miss “several weeks,” according to Arizona manager Torey Lovullo.
So Del Castillo was summoned from Triple-A Reno, where he was batting .319 with 24 homers and 70 RBIs in 100 games. He is 4-for-7 with three RBIs, a double and the big homer since joining the Diamondbacks.
“Straight up goosebumps, I don’t even know how to describe it in words,” Del Castillo said of his walk-off homer off Philadelphia All-Star right-hander Jeff Hoffman. “Just looking for a fastball over the plate and I got a good swing on it.”
The victory was Arizona’s fifth in six games. The Diamondbacks are 15-5 since the All-Star break.
It also was one of those moments in a season that a team doesn’t forget.
“You couldn’t ask for any greater moment for a young player,” Lovullo said. “I get so excited for the players coming up from player development. I felt like I was 18 years old again for a few minutes.”
Joc Pederson also homered for Arizona, which defeated the Phillies in seven games in last season’s National League Championship Series.
Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler, who dominated the Diamondbacks in the 2023 postseason, served up the homer to Pederson while allowing two runs and seven hits over six innings.
“First inning, three hits weren’t hit very hard,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Even the pitch to Pederson wasn’t all that bad, he just beat him to the spot. He was struggling to find his split, which would have helped him against lefties, but he was effective.”
Bryce Harper hit his 26th homer of the season and Johan Rojas had a run-scoring double for Philadelphia, which lost for the second time in six games.
A battle of right-handers is on tap Saturday when Aaron Nola (11-5, 3.54 ERA) takes the mound for the Phillies against Zac Gallen (9-5, 3.75) of the Diamondbacks.
Nola is winless over his past four starts and allowed four runs and eight hits over six innings while losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. He has a 4.37 ERA during the stretch.
Nola, 31, is 2-2 with a 7.67 ERA in five career starts against the Diamondbacks. In last season’s NLCS, Nola went 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA in two outings against Arizona.
Josh Bell (6-for-33) has two homers off Nola, while Pederson is 6-for-20 with one homer. Corbin Carroll is 2-for-12 and Randal Grichuk is hitless in nine at-bats.
Gallen, 29, is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA over his past four starts. He gave up five runs and eight hits in seven innings against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday.
Gallen struggled in the 2023 postseason against Philadelphia, dropping both his starts while compiling a 7.36 ERA.
In five regular-season outings against the Phillies, Gallen is 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA. Harper is 8-for-17 with two homers off Gallen while Kyle Schwarber (4-for-13) has taken him deep three times in the regular season. Both sluggers hit two homers off Gallen in the NLCS.
Alec Bohm (0-for-9) and J.T. Realmuto (1-for-9) have both struggled against Gallen.
–Field Level Media
