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Carlos Estévez called the momentum-swinging homers in a Phillies win that is a ‘reminder’ going into Game 3

“You always have to have wins like this," says catcher Garrett Stubbs. "... you just need to stay in it."

Nick Castellanos and Bryce Harper celebrate after Castellanos hit a solo homer against the Mets during the sixth inning in Game 2 of the NLDS on Sunday.
Nick Castellanos and Bryce Harper celebrate after Castellanos hit a solo homer against the Mets during the sixth inning in Game 2 of the NLDS on Sunday.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

Carlos Estévez was sitting in the Phillies’ bullpen on Sunday night when he saw Jeremy Hefner walk to the mound. It was Game 2 of the National League Division Series, and there were two outs in the sixth. Hefner, the Mets pitching coach, wanted to talk to Luis Severino. Trea Turner had just hit a single to put a runner on first. Bryce Harper was up next.

Estévez knew what Hefner’s message would be.

“Pitch around,” he said.

Nevertheless, the Phillies reliever turned to Orion Kerkering and made a prediction.

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NLDS: Mets defeat Phillies 3-1

Game 1: Mets 6, Phillies 2 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 2: Phillies 7, Mets 6 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 3: Mets 7, Phillies 2 | Hayes | Murphy

Game 4: Mets 4, Phillies 1 | Hayes | Murphy

“He’s going to hit a home run right here,” Estévez told him.

Harper took a sinker inside for a ball, swung at a sinker low, fouled a sinker inside, took a fastball above the zone, and launched the fifth pitch he saw, another four-seam fastball, 431 feet to center field.

As Nick Castellanos walked to the plate, Estévez turned to Kerkering again.

“If he throws another slider to Castellanos, he’s going to hit a homer,” he said.

Sure enough, Severino threw Castellanos not one, but two sliders. He drove the second one to the left-center field seats for a game-tying, solo home run.

Estévez threw his hands in the air and jumped off the bench.

“I called both,” he said. “And they both hit it. I was like, ‘I should play the Powerball!’ ”

Kerkering entered in the top of the seventh, with the game tied at 3. He struck out Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos but allowed a home run to Brandon Nimmo to give the Mets their second lead of the day, 4-3.

It did not matter. Estévez pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Bryson Stott hit a two-run triple a half inning later. Matt Strahm entered in the ninth. He allowed a one-out single to Lindor and a game-tying, two-run home run to Vientos, but again, it did not matter.

Strahm and Jeff Hoffman recorded the final two outs of the inning, which brought us to the bottom of the ninth. Austin Hays struck out, Kyle Schwarber popped out, and it seemed as though the Phillies might go to New York with an 0-2 deficit in the best-of-five series.

» READ MORE: Phillies’ Alec Bohm says his benching was ‘a little surprising,’ but he isn’t pouting

But then Turner walked, and Harper walked, and Castellanos, with two strikes, laid off a pitch that he swings at frequently, and had swung at earlier that night. Mets reliever Tylor Megill threw him a slider in the dirt, assuming Castellanos would dive for it.

He did not, and he was rewarded with a slider in the zone, which he laced for the game-winning, line-drive single to left. The 7-6 win evened the series, 1-1, but it also gave the Phillies something important.

“A reminder,” said backup catcher Garrett Stubbs. “You always have to have wins like this. Just to get that feeling again — all right, down 3-0, down 4-3, whatever it may be, you just need to stay in it.

“You can never give up an at-bat. When you walk, or get a broken bat hit, or whatever it is, whether it’s no outs or two outs, that at-bat keeps that inning alive,” Stubbs said. “I think remembering that is important. We’ve come from behind in a lot of games throughout the last three years. And it’s mostly the same group here. Especially the position players.

“So, they’ve been the come-from-behind team lately. But our team is never out of it. And we never feel like we’re out of it. So, we just keep that going.”

There is still work to be done. The Phillies will head to Citi Field and play Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will not be a pleasant environment. They will still feel pressure. But now, they have a little more belief, and a little more momentum. Estévez felt it on Sunday night. It’s why he threw his cap onto the bullpen dirt. He saw the moment, and knew the man would meet it.

“This is Bryce Harper,” he said. “We’ve seen this plenty of times.”

» READ MORE: Matt Straham, Phillies bullpen struggle again but remain confident

    Alex Coffey
    I cover the Philadelphia Phillies, on and off the field. From 2019-2021, I covered the Oakland A's and the WNBA's Seattle Storm for The Athletic.
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