The Philadelphia Phillies opened a critical three-game series against the New York Mets Friday with first place in the NL East on the line. The teams were tied with identical 45-30 records at the start of the day. But the Phillies scored a big victory over New York, powered in part by Nick Castellanos, who’s played with renewed energy after being benched by manager Rob Thomson earlier this week. And the veteran right fielder teamed up with J.T. Realmuto to pull off a wild base running feat.

With the score tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Phillies broke the game open, batting around and scoring six runs. But the final two runs of the inning were a sight to behold.

Second baseman Bryson Stott came up with the bases loaded and delivered a three-run double off the wall in left. Alec Bohm easily scored from third. But Realmuto showed off some serious speed, scoring from first and nearly passing Castellanos, who was heading home from second.

Realmuto was right behind Castellanos as the pair rounded third and approached home plate. They then both slid and beat the tag, almost simultaneously adding two runs to the scoreboard and putting the Phillies up 8-2.

Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto score in a Phillies rout

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Castellanos added a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put Philadelphia up 10-2. He hammered a 96 mph four-seamer from Justin Garza 428 feet to center for his eighth bomb of the season.

The deep shot capped off a three-hit, three-RBI game for the two-time All-Star, as Castellanos has responded to his benching with clutch performances.

Earlier in the month, Castellanos made his 231st consecutive start for the Phillies. The iron man feat gave him the longest streak for the franchise since Pete Rose nearly 40 years ago. Unfortunately, some choice words for Thomson led to the 13th-year veteran getting benched, which ended his consecutive games played streak.

Still, Castellanos and the Phillies are playing with renewed purpose of late. A slump at the beginning of June allowed the Mets to take over first place in the NL East as the Phillies lost nine of 10 games. However, since then, the team has turned things around. Philadelphia has now won three straight games and nine of the last 11. With the victory over the Mets Friday, the Phillies recaptured sole possession of first place in the division.