The Phillies broadcast begged Nick Castellanos to let a foul ball go before his unreal game-saving throw

It really could have been one of those classic Phillies losses, but Nick Castellanos had other ideas.

In Wednesday’s game against their NL East rival Braves, the Phillies let a four-run lead slip away and were on the verge of a deflating loss with a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the ninth. Luke Williams — who entered the game as a pinch runner — stole second and third to set up a potential walk-off AB for Orlando Arcia.

And for a moment, it appeared that Arcia had done the job thanks to a mistake from Castellanos.

When Arcia drifted a foul ball medium depth near the right-field line, it would have been the smart play for Castellanos to let the ball drop to the ground. His momentum was taking him away from home plate, and it would have taken a perfect throw to get out Williams. Why risk it? Even the Phillies broadcast with John Kruk was begging Castellanos to let the ball go.

Instead, this happened:

GAME SAVING THROW FROM NICK CASTELLANOS pic.twitter.com/IcPUUBeGg7

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 20, 2023

To Kruk’s utter disbelief, Castellanos went ahead and caught the ball. In a seamless motion, he spun and fired an absolutely perfect throw home to get out Williams. The throw needed to be on the money, and Castellanos gave them just that.

With Ronald Acuña Jr. on deck, it was an odd send for the Braves, and that slide should have been head first. But again, it was tough to expect that kind of perfect throw from Castellanos given how he caught the ball moving away from the plate.

Well, Castellanos’ decision paid off because the Phillies scored two in the top of the 10th inning and held on to win, 6-5.

Fans couldn’t believe the throw (or call!) either.