Nick Castellanos returns to Phillies lineup after benching and makes game-sealing catch vs Marlins

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MIAMI (AP) — Nick Castellanos returned to the Philadelphia Phillies lineup and made the game-sealing catch in their 4-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday — a day after being benched for “an inappropriate comment” the outfielder made when he was pulled for a defensive replacement on Monday.

Castellanos doubled and singled Wednesday before catching Nick Fortes’ flyball at the right-field wall in the ninth to end the game. Castellanos immediately lifted his shirt in celebration after the play.

“Casty — It’s an amazing game, isn’t it?” manager Rob Thomson said. “I’m so happy for him. He hit the ball great, swung the bat great, had great at-bats and then makes that tremendous catch … really played well.”

Castellanos played right field and singled in four at-bats against the Marlins on Monday before Thomson opted to have Johan Rojas replace him in the bottom of the eighth with Philadelphia up 3-1. Max Kepler moved to right and Rojas played center.

“It’s gone. It’s gone. We’re good,” Thomson said earlier Wednesday of the benching, which ended Castellanos’ streak of 236 consecutive starts.

Thomson said after Monday’s game he had intended to insert Rojas behind Philadelphia’s right-handed pitching and indicated that could be the plan moving forward.

Thomson added Wednesday that approach “just depends on the situations.”

When asked if he would be OK with taking Castellanos out in a similar situation on Wednesday, Thomson said, “Probably not today.”

The plan was also for Castellanos to only be benched for Tuesday’s game, Thomson added. The Phillies lost that matchup 8-3.

The 33-year-old Castellanos is in his fourth season with the Phillies, who are second in the NL East. He’s hitting .278 with seven homers and 36 RBIs.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb