PHILADELPHIA – Ball left bat bound for outfield grass, threatening to pare further a lead already in peril. Two Phillies toed bases. Statcast gave J.T. Realmuto’s line drive a .710 expected batting average. Brandon Marsh seemed surer than that.
Marsh stood at second base, the potential tying run after an RBI double. He broke immediately for third, leaving no recourse when Jeremy Peña speared Realmuto’s liner on a backhand dive. Peña doubled him off, and a Phillies rally fizzled.
It proved a pivotal play in the opener of a series at Citizens Bank Park. At risk of seeing an early five-run lead evaporate, the Houston Astros held on for a 6-5 win over the Phillies on Tuesday night, starting an arduous road trip on an adventurous note.
It lingered until the final out. Closer Josh Hader inherited a two-run lead in the ninth, riding a streak of 21 scoreless outings. Bryson Stott struck a leadoff single. Edmundo Sosa sent a drive off the right-field wall, just above the glove of leaping Cam Smith.
Stott scored on the double. Hader induced two fly outs to bring up Kyle Schwarber, the majors’ leader in home runs. An announced crowd of 39,262 crescendoed. Hader induced a pop-out, converting his 24th save in as many chances this season.
Houston guaranteed it would gain ground on either the Rangers or Mariners, meeting later in Seattle. It moved to 74-71 with 17 regular-season games remaining. The next five are against the Phillies, who are 81-64, and the Rays, owners of the AL’s best record.
A lineup that totaled eight runs in a three-game series against Arizona last weekend scored five against Phillies starter Andrew Painter. Christian Walker crushed a three-run home run and Smith added a solo homer against the right-hander. Peña drove in a run with a double.
Hayden Wesneski carried a scoreless outing into the sixth, when the Phillies struck for three quick runs. Daulton Varsho’s solo homer off reliever Brooks Raley restored a three-run lead in the seventh. The late innings were adventurous.
AJ Blubaugh faltered in the seventh. Alec Bohm met him with a leadoff double. Blubaugh clipped Stott with a two-strike pitch. Marsh crushed a fastball to center field. Varsho hit the wall hard in pursuit, but the ball eluded him and caromed away.
Bohm scored. Stott, hot on his heels, stopped at third. Realmuto stepped in and pulled a sweeper from Blubaugh, who was buoyed by Peña. Bennett Sousa entered after the double play and struck out pinch hitter Derek Hill to preserve a two-run lead.
Bryan Abreu navigated the top of the Phillies’ lineup in the eighth. Smith helped with a sliding catch on Schwarber’s leadoff flare. Abreu froze Bohm on a third-strike fastball to strand two runners. The Phillies put eight men on base in a three-inning span starting in the sixth.
The Astros totaled 11 hits on a night Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve combined to go 0-for-10. They left nine runners on base. Still, they have not lost this season when leading after eight innings. Hader, with his recovery, preserved that statistic.
ASTROS 6, PHILLIES 5
| Houston | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 38 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 10 | |
| Peña ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .270 |
| Alvarez dh | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .311 |
| Paredes 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .258 |
| Altuve 2b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .244 |
| Allen 2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .275 |
| Varsho cf | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .230 |
| Diaz c | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 |
| Walker 1b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .230 |
| Trammell lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .206 |
| Smith rf | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .214 |
| Philadelphia | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 35 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| Schwarber dh | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .242 |
| Turner ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .241 |
| Harper rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .271 |
| Arraez 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .316 |
| 1-Stubbs pr-1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| Bohm 1b-3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .246 |
| Stott 3b-2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .252 |
| Marsh lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .267 |
| b-Sosa ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .237 |
| Realmuto c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .215 |
| Crawford cf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .263 |
| a-Hill ph-cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .246 |
| Houston | 040 | 100 | 100_6 | 11 | 0 |
| Philadelphia | 000 | 003 | 101_5 | 10 | 0 |
a-struck out for Crawford in the 7th. b-doubled for Marsh in the 9th.
1-ran for Arraez in the 8th.
LOB_Houston 9, Philadelphia 5. 2B_Varsho (23), Peña (17), Crawford (18), Bohm (26), Marsh (19), Turner (27), Sosa (9). HR_Walker (25), off Painter; Smith (18), off Painter; Varsho (11), off Raley; Turner (18), off Wesneski. RBIs_Walker 3 (80), Peña (47), Smith (51), Varsho (39), Schwarber (88), Turner 2 (54), Marsh (58), Sosa (41). SB_Sosa (4).
Runners left in scoring position_Houston 3 (Trammell, Smith, Paredes); Philadelphia 3 (Hill, Bohm, Schwarber). RISP_Houston 2 for 7; Philadelphia 2 for 9.
LIDP_Realmuto. GIDP_Stott.
DP_Houston 2 (Walker, Peña, Walker; Peña, Altuve, Peña).
| Houston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wesneski, W, 5-1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 82 | 3.35 | |
| Blubaugh, H, 10 | 2-3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3.15 | |
| Sousa, H, 9 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5.79 | |
| Abreu, H, 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 3.63 | |
| Hader, S, 24-24 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0.89 |
| Philadelphia | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Painter, L, 3-9 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 98 | 5.71 | |
| Mayza | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3.23 | |
| Raley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 2.31 | |
| Shugart | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 4.50 | |
| Alvarado | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 5.40 |
Inherited runners-scored_Sousa 1-0. HBP_Blubaugh (Stott), Abreu (Arraez).
ABS Challenge_Trammell (Strike-Confirmed); Altuve (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Smith (Strike-Confirmed); Smith (Strike-Confirmed); Schwarber (Strike-Confirmed); Bohm (Strike-Confirmed).
Umpires_Home, Dan Iassogna; First, Brock Ballou; Second, Jeremie Rehak; Third, Adam Beck.
T_2:59. A_39,262 (42,901).
Lineup jumps on Andrew Painter
Painter, the hard-throwing 23-year-old right-hander, entered with a 5.55 ERA in 22 major-league outings this season. His last seven starts, however, had yielded a 3.12 ERA. His last three were all quality starts.
The Astros, meanwhile, arrived in Philadelphia with the fifth-fewest runs scored in the majors since the trade deadline. They pounced on Painter for five runs and 10 hits in his five innings.
Painter had allowed a .346 average against his four-seam fastball, which touched 99.6 mph Tuesday, and a .304 average on his sinker. The Astros did their initial damage on those pitches. Daulton Varsho lined a four-seam fastball for a leadoff double in the second inning. Yainer Diaz sliced a four-seamer for a single. Walker walloped a sinker into the seats in left-center field for a 3-0 lead.
After a one-out walk to Smith, Jeremy Peña pulled a 2-2 changeup into the left-field corner. Third-base coach Tony Perezchica held up his right hand as Smith approached. Smith sped through the stop sign, scoring on Peña’s double. Two innings later, Painter hung a slider to Smith, who crushed it into the left-field bleachers.
Painter totaled just 21 four-seamers on 98 pitches, and 11 sinkers, relying more on his changeup and sweeper. The changeup yielded eight whiffs on 19 swings, as Painter finished five of his six strikeouts with it. Six put into play yielded three hits, though, including Peña’s homer. The Astros saw 98 pitches from Painter, who exited after the fifth in a 5-0 deficit.
Quality start for Hayden Wesneski
Wesneski sailed through his first five innings. He faced one batter over the minimum in them. Two struck hits, both singles. Luis Arraez opened the second with an infield single. Wesneski erased him on a double play. No Phillies runner reached scoring position until the sixth.
Wesneski began the inning at 66 pitches. In a five-pitch span, the Phillies pared a 5-0 deficit to 5-3. Justin Crawford pulled a 2-2 sweeper for a double. Schwarber lined a low changeup up the middle, a single that scored Crawford. Trea Turner drove a cutter into the left-field seats.
It halted a rhythm for Wesneski, who finished the sixth but did not work further. He still threw his fourth quality start in eight outings since returning from elbow surgery. He has a 3.35 ERA in 45 2/3 innings.
Wesneski’s sweeper has been key. It is his most-thrown pitch since his return against left-handed hitters, who entered Tuesday with a .111 average against it. The Phillies mostly laid off the pitch, offering at just seven of 20 he threw. Wesneski mostly got by with ineffective contact.
Some batted-ball luck seemed involved. The Phillies averaged a 90.8 mph exit velocity on 19 balls put in play, but only five yielded hits. Wesneski peppered the zone, throwing 74% strikes and first-pitch strikes to 17 of 22 batters faced.
Loud swing from Christian Walker
Walker has contributed to Houston’s offensive downturn since the trade deadline. He entered Tuesday second on the club in home runs and third in RBIs. But over 32 games since Aug. 1, he was batting .202 with two home runs and a .568 OPS.
Walker’s three-run home run against Painter, his 25th of the season, was also his longest. Walker sent a sinker from the right-hander 440 feet to left-center field at 107.7 mph off the bat, an encouraging swing by a hitter from whom the Astros could use more down the stretch.
Walker also lined a two-strike slider up the middle for a single in the fifth inning and drew a walk in the seventh, finishing 2-for-3 and ending the night with 80 RBIs.
Astros injury updates
Reliever Steven Okert reported to the Astros’ minor-league facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., to continue his rehab from a hamstring strain and will increase his throwing program there this week, manager Joe Espada said pregame. Okert is on the 15-day IL retroactive to Sept. 1 with the right hamstring injury.
Brice Matthews played seven innings in center field in a bridge league game in Florida on Tuesday as he rehabs a left knee sprain. Carlos Correa, in West Palm Beach to ramp up baseball activity in his attempt to return from ankle surgery, is taking on-field batting practice but has yet to run bases.
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This article originally published at Houston Astros hang on to beat Philadelphia Phillies to open tough road trip.
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