The Phillies took the field in Houston, Texas, to battle the Astros for the second game of a three-game series on Wednesday night while most eyes in Philadelphia were focused on the 2025 NBA Draft.
Zach Wheeler pitched seven innings of one-run ball, but the Phillies’ offense was unable to find a clutch hit, resulting in a 2-0 loss and the club’s second consecutive shutout. It is the first back-to-back shutout losses for the Phillies since August 2022. Philadelphia’s last run was scored 19 innings ago in a 7-1 win over the New York Mets on Sunday night.
Zach Wheeler started for Philly, but a quick-hitting attack from Houston produced an early run on the scoreboard. Jeremy Pena led off the game with a double. Pena scored on Isaac Paredes’ ground ball to shortstop that slipped under the glove of Trea Turner and rolled into center field for a 1-0 Astros lead.
Wheeler locked things down after that run scored. He scattered four hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts over six innings to keep the Phillies in the contest. Unfortunately, Astros starter Colton Gordon was equally efficient, allowing four hits with four strikeouts over five innings before turning things over to the Houston bullpen.
The Phillies threatened to tie the game in the eighth inning, but walked away empty-handed. Brandon Marsh and Trea Turner singled to provide a spark, with Marsh advancing to third base. Kyle Schwarber stepped to the plate and hit a hard ground ball, which Astros first baseman Christian Walker snagged. Since the ball didn’t leave the infield, Marsh remained on third, which was the correct play in a 2-1 ballgame according to the Phillies’ bench boss.
“It’s not a contact play,” Rob Thomson said postgame via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “The way we talk about it is if you think they can turn the double play there, then you go to the plate. If you don’t, then it’s a read situation. So, he did the right thing because I don’t think they could’ve turned the double play. We were fortunate that Schwarber reached first base, but we didn’t do anything after that.”
After Schwarber legged out his infield single, Alec Bohm struck out, and Nick Castellanos grounded out to end the eighth inning with the bases loaded.
Houston added insurance in the ninth inning following a Victor Caratini home run off of Matt Strahm for a 2-0 Astros lead. It’s been a struggle recently for the Phillies reliever, who has allowed runs in three of his last four appearances.
“It hurts not having Bryce [Harper], but we’ve got to overcome it,” Thomson said about the lack of offense recently. “I think we are just going through a little spell here and we’ll come out of it.”
It’s a quick turnaround for Philly and Houston with a 2:10 PM EST afternoon game tomorrow to close out the series. Cristopher Sanchez (6-2, 2.87 ERA) battles Hunter Brown (8-3, 1.88 ERA) in the series finale at Daikin Park.
Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
