Nick Castellanos, Phillies Have Fans Dreaming of WS After Beating Braves in Game 4

No player in MLB history had ever posted a multi-homer game in back-to-back postseason contests heading into Thursday night's Game 4 matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

Enter Nick Castellanos.

The Phillies slugger hit a pair of solo shots, pacing his team in a 3-1 win that sent them to the NLCS to face the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks.

He also blasted a pair of homers during Wednesday's 10-2 win, though it was slightly overshadowed by Bryce Harper's two home runs and two lengthy staredowns directed toward Orlando "Attaboy" Arcia.

But there was no sharing the spotlight on Thursday—Castellanos was the star of this show, and fans and pundits alike gave him his flowers as the Phillies moved one step closer to returning to the World Series:

He was hardly the only standout for these Phillies, however.

There was Trea Turner, who finished the game 4-for-4 with a solo home run of his own.

Starting pitcher Ranger Suárez pitched five sparkling innings, giving up just one run on three hits while striking out two.

And Johan Rojas made the most important defensive play of the night, tracking down a Ronald Acuña Jr. blast to end the seventh inning after the Phillies' bullpen had walked the bases loaded.

There was drama, too.

Phillies fans were left in abject terror as Harper recoiled in pain in the top of the eighth inning after a collision at first base with Matt Olson, clutching his surgically repaired arm that forced him to move from right field to first base this season.

But he returned to the field in the top of the ninth, and Philadelphia was able to breathe again.

The Braves then put their first two hitters on base in the ninth, giving them runners on first and third with no outs. But Matt Strahm—who isn't the team's normal closer and had just two saves in the regular season, but was called upon after manager Rob Thomson went with José Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel earlier in the game to get out of jams—retired three straight batters to end the game.

And so the Braves, who led baseball with 104 wins and tied the MLB record with 307 home runs during the regular season, were held to eight runs in four games and were sent packing.

Castellanos, by himself, out-homered the Braves in this series, 4-3. And it was a huge reason why the Phillies eliminated the Braves in the NLDS for the second straight October.