Adrian Del Castillo hits winning homer in 9th inning in 2nd MLB game, D-backs beat Phillies 3-2

PHOENIX (AP) — Adrian Del Castillo hit the winning homer in just his second game in the majors, hammering the first pitch of the ninth inning to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

The Phillies rallied from a 2-0 deficit, tying it in the eighth on a two-out RBI double from Johan Rojas that scored a hustling Nick Castellanos from first.

That set up Del Castillo’s ninth-inning heroics. He jumped all over a 97 mph fastball from Jeff Hoffman (3-2), launching it deep into the right-field seats for his first big league homer. He was mobbed at home plate by his teammates while a crowd of nearly 38,000 roared.

Welcome to the big leagues, kid.

“Goosebumps, honestly,” Del Castillo said. “Straight up goosebumps. It was sick. I don’t even know how to describe it.”

Arizona's Ryne Nelson threw 7 1/3 brilliant innings, giving up just three hits and two runs, walking one and striking out nine.

Del Castillo finished with three hits and two RBIs. He was called up this week after starting catcher Gabriel Moreno went down with a groin injury in Cleveland. In 100 games this season for Triple-A Reno, Del Castillo hit .319 with 24 homers and 70 RBIs.

“You couldn’t ask for any greater moment for a young player,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “I get so excited for the players coming up from player development. I felt like I was 18 years old again for a few minutes.”

Justin Martinez (5-3) pitched the ninth, getting the victory with the D-backs' seventh walk-off win of the year.

The Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead in the first when Del Castillo hit a looping RBI single to left center. Joc Pederson made it 2-0 in the third with a solo homer to right, which was his 19th long ball of the season.

Meanwhile, Nelson put on quite a display of strike throwing, retiring the first 12 batters he faced and throwing first-pitch strikes to the first 17 batters. At one point in the sixth inning, he had thrown 51 strikes and just 10 balls.

Nelson might have been pitching for his job in the starting rotation. Merrill Kelly is expected to return from injury this weekend, giving the D-backs six starting pitchers including Zac Gallen, Jordan Montgomery, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez.

Lovullo said he's not going with a six-man rotation so someone's got to move to the bullpen. The manager said he's not ready to make a decision.

“I just try to go out there, compete, and do whatever I can to make their decision as hard as it can be,” Nelson said.

Bryce Harper finally got to Nelson in the seventh, driving an opposite field homer to left field for his 26th homer of the year to cut it to 2-1.

“He's in a good spot right now,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler gave up two runs on seven hits over six innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out eight.

MAKING MOVES

Diamondbacks: Called up RHP Scott McGough and optioned RHP Slade Cecconi to Triple-A Reno.

Phillies: OF Austin Hays (hamstring) was placed on the 10-day IL and LHP Kolby Allard was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. OF Cal Stevenson and RHP Max Lazar were promoted from Triple-A. 1B Darick Hall and RHP Max Castillo were designated for assignment.

UP NEXT

The D-backs will start RHP Zac Gallen (9-5, 3.75 ERA) on Saturday night. The Phillies counter with RHP Aaron Nola (11-5, 3.54 ERA).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Arizona Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo is pummeled by bubble gum during a post-game interview after he hit a walk-off home run against Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Bell reacts to a strike call against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper is pictured after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, right, hugs Adrian Del Castillo after he hit a walk-off home run against Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo gestures after hitting a walk-off home run against Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo celebrates hitting a walk-off home run against Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo, middle, is mobbed by teammates after hitting a walk-off home against Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Adrian Del Castillo, middle, has ice dumped on him after hitting a walk-off home run against Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Bell (36) slides safely into third base against Philadelphia Phillies' Alec Bohm during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson pumps his fist after striking out three Philadelphia Phillies in a row during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll (7) somersaults while diving for a ball hit off the bat of Philadelphia Phillies' Alec Bohm during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. It was the Phillies first hit of the game. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Philadelphia Phillies' Johan Rojas dives back to first base but is out during a force play against the Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Bell during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper gets high-fives from teammates after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler prepares to throw against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Joc Pederson points skyward after hitting a solo home run against Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson throws against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug 9, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

LONDON (AP) — Google lost its last bid to overturn a European Union antitrust penalty, after the bloc's top court ruled against it Tuesday in a case that came with a whopping fine and helped jumpstart an era of intensifying scrutiny for Big Tech companies.

The European Union’s top court rejected Google's appeal against the 2.4 billion euro ($2.7 billion) penalty from the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, for violating antitrust rules with its comparison shopping service.

Also Tuesday, Apple lost its challenge against an order to repay 13 billion euros ($14.34 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, after the European Court of Justice issued a separate decision siding with the commission in a case targeting unlawful state aid for global corporations.

Both companies have now exhausted their appeals in the cases that date to the previous decade. Together, the court decisions are a victory for European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who's expected to step down next month after 10 years as the commission's top official overseeing competition.

Experts said the rulings illustrate how watchdogs have been emboldened in the years since the cases were first opened.

One of the takeaways from the Apple decision "is the sense that, again, the EU authorities and courts are prepared to flex their (collective) muscles to bring Big Tech to heel where necessary,” Alex Haffner, a competition partner at law firm Fladgate, said by email.

The Google ruling “reflects the growing confidence with which competition regulators worldwide are tackling the perceived excesses of the Big Tech companies,” said Gareth Mills, partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys. The court's willingness “to back the legal rationale and the level of fine will undoubtedly embolden the competition regulators further.”

The shopping fine was one of three huge antitrust penalties for Google from the commission, which punished the Silicon Valley giant in 2017 for unfairly directing visitors to its own Google Shopping service over competitors.

“We are disappointed with the decision of the Court, which relates to a very specific set of facts,” Google said in a brief statement.

The company said it made changes to comply with the commission’s decision requiring it to treat competitors equally. It started holding auctions for shopping search listings that it would bid for alongside other comparison shopping services.

“Our approach has worked successfully for more than seven years, generating billions of clicks for more than 800 comparison shopping services,” Google said.

European consumer group BEUC hailed the court's decision, saying it shows how the bloc's competition law “remains highly relevant" in digital markets.

“It is a good outcome for all European consumers at the end of the day,” Director General Agustín Reyna said in an interview. “It means that many smaller companies or rivals will be able to go to different comparison shopping sites. They don’t need to depend on Google to reach out to customers."

Google is still appealing its two other EU antitrust cases: a 2018 fine of 4.125 billion euros ($4.55 billion) involving its Android operating system and a 2019 penalty of 1.49 billion euros ($1.64 billion) over its AdSense advertising platform.

Those three cases foreshadowed expanded efforts by regulators worldwide to crack down on the tech industry. The EU has since opened more investigations into Big Tech companies and drew up a new law to prevent them from cornering online markets, known as the Digital Markets Act.

European Commissioner and Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said that the shopping case was one of the first attempts to regulate a digital company and inspired similar efforts worldwide.

"The case was symbolic because it demonstrated even the most powerful tech companies could be held accountable. No one is above the law,” Vestager told a press briefing in Brussels.

Vestager said the commission will continue to open competition cases even as it enforces the Digital Markets Act. The DMA is a sweeping rulebook that forces Google and other tech giants to give consumers more choice by following a set of dos and don'ts.

Google is also now facing pressure over its lucrative digital advertising business from the EU and Britain, which are carrying out separate investigations, and the United States, where the Department of Justice is taking the company to federal court over its alleged dominance in ad tech.

Apple failed in its last bid to avoid repaying its Irish taxes Tuesday after the Court of Justice upheld a lower court ruling against the company, in the dispute that dates back to 2016.

Vestager, who said she had been braced for defeat, hailed it as a landmark victory for “tax justice.”

It was a surprise win for the commission, which has previously targeted Amazon, Starbucks and Fiat with tax rulings that were later overturned on appeal. They were part of the EU's efforts to stamp out sweetheart deals that let companies pay little to no taxes in a fight that highlighted the debate over whether multinational corporations are paying their fair share around the world.

The case drew outrage from Apple, with CEO Tim Cook calling it “total political crap.” Then-U.S. President Donald Trump slammed Vestager, who spearheaded the campaign to root out special tax deals and crack down on big U.S. tech companies, as the “tax lady” who “really hates the U.S.”

Associated Press writers Raf Casert and Mark Carlson in Brussels contributed to this report.

FILE - In this April 17, 2007 file photo, exhibitors work on laptop computers in front of an illuminated sign of the Google logo at the industrial fair Hannover Messe in Hanover, Germany. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File)

FILE - A sign at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. is shown on Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Google loses final EU court appeal against 2.4 billion euro fine in antitrust shopping case

Google loses final EU court appeal against 2.4 billion euro fine in antitrust shopping case