Nick Castellanos, Phillies chase sweep of Astros

Nick Castellanos never has to wonder whether he has the full support of his manager.

Philadelphia Phillies skipper Rob Thomson has penciled Castellanos into the lineup every game this season, and that certainly will be the case again Wednesday when the Phillies go for a three-game sweep of the visiting Houston Astros.

Castellanos had a .521 OPS through the end of April and struggled to find his groove for much of May, as well. However, he began to heat up over the summer and is still swinging a good bat as August winds to a close.

The veteran right fielder has hit safely in five straight games and 13 of his past 15 contests. He delivered a clutch three-run homer against Justin Verlander to spark Philadelphia to a 5-0 victory on Tuesday.

"I don't really have an approach," Castellanos said after hitting his 18th home run of the season. "I look for the baseball and hit it as hard as I can."

The two-time All-Star recalled how Thomson told him on Opening Day that he wanted Castellanos to play in all 162 games. He nearly made it there last season, finishing at 157 games to match his career high.

"From a coaching standpoint, trust is the biggest thing you can have for your players," Castellanos said, adding, "If you don't feel like a manager has your back, that's pretty uninspiring to lace up your cleats for him."

"I'm happy for him that he's had this turnaround," Thomson said of Castellanos, whose third-inning blast helped Philadelphia post its fourth straight victory.

Aaron Nola pitched seven scoreless innings for the Phillies, who would love to get a similar effort out of Taijuan Walker (3-5, 6.26 ERA) on Wednesday. The struggling right-hander gave up six runs in three innings against the Kansas City Royals on Friday and may be running out of chances to prove he belongs in the rotation.

"It just hasn't been good lately," Walker said after his latest outing. "You want to help the team as much as possible. ... It would be nice for myself to be able to pick the team up. I just haven't really done that, so it's frustrating."

Houston will counter with Spencer Arrighetti (6-11, 4.94 ERA), who has a 2.55 ERA in four starts this month. The 24-year-old rookie held the Baltimore Orioles scoreless over six innings on Thursday to outduel All-Star Corbin Burnes.

"I'm a competitive person. I'm always trying to outdo the other guy," Arrighetti said.

The young right-hander certainly could use some offensive support from Yainer Diaz, who is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in the series, as well as Jeremy Pena, who is 0-for-8.

The Astros have lost six of their past eight games and are looking to avoid being swept for the first time since they dropped three straight against the host Chicago Cubs from April 23-25.

"Sometimes in these stretches, one pitch doesn't go your way, one ball doesn't go your way, one whatever -- it's the difference between winning and losing," Verlander said. "Against tough opponents, I feel like we've played pretty damn well. Just the wins haven't shown up."

--Field Level Media