PHILADELPHIA -- Let’s start with this: Nick Castellanos unconditionally loves his Phillies teammates.

So, no, Castellanos was not giving his friends the one-bird salute after he dropped a double down the right-field line in the fourth inning of Tuesday night’s 4-1 victory over Miami in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series at Citizens Bank Park. He slid into second base, stood up and flashed a single digit toward the Phillies’ dugout.

But it wasn’t that finger.

It was his ring finger.

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Castellanos said, trying to explain his thought process. “I just found myself doing it. After, I was like, 'Damn, did I really just do that?' It just came out.”

So, Castellanos flipped up his ring finger because he wanted to symbolize something?

“Yeah, that’s why we’re playing this month,” he said, referring to a World Series championship ring.

It wasn’t just fans watching on TV and fans in the stands who were startled and confused at the initial sight.

Castellanos’ teammates were surprised, too.

“Someone goes, ‘Did he flip us off?’” Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber said. “And we’re like, ‘What?!’ I went back and watched the video and I counted the fingers, and I was like, ‘OK it was his ring finger.’ But yeah, we were all like, ‘What is that?’”