Astros fall as Phillies hammer Houston pitching in middle innings to overcome defict

PHILADELPHIA – A pivotal inning built slowly to its crescendo. The Houston Astros carried a one-run lead into the sixth on a night both lineups looked potent. Philadelphia’s had taxed their ace, prompting a turn to the bullpen.

Luis Arraez met left-hander Bryan King with a double lined at 84.4 mph off the bat. Bryson Stott pulled a bouncer to Christian Walker, a first baseman with three Gold Gloves, who bobbled it. Edmundo Sosa sent a glacial liner at 58.2 mph toward the right side of the Houston infield, where nobody stood.

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Sosa’s single tied the game. Justin Crawford’s infield single, on a 66.2 mph grounder to shortstop Jeremy Peña, loaded the bases with no outs. Into that inferno entered AJ Blubaugh, the right-hander with more relief innings than any other pitcher in the majors this season.

Blubaugh blew a 98 mph fastball by J.T. Realmuto for a strikeout. He missed the zone with four pitches, then, to Bryan De La Cruz, forcing in the go-ahead run and bringing up baseball’s home run leader. Kyle Schwarber padded his lead and his team’s.

With a one-handed follow-through, Schwarber yanked a full-count sweeper off the facing of the second deck at an electrified Citizens Bank Park. His 10th career grand slam turned a one-run game into a romp. The Astros fell 11-7 on a night their pitching could not prop up the support it received.

There were varied reasons for frustration. Soft contact fueled two Phillies rallies. Of their 12 hits, seven had an exit velocity of 90.6 mph or below, per Statcast; 95 mph is the hard-hit threshold. Six had an exit velocity of 84.4 mph or lower. Home runs by Schwarber and Trea Turner were two loud exceptions.

Results were indifferent. The Astros remained two games up in the American League West but wasted a chance to pad their lead over the Rangers, who lost to Seattle. They’ll start Cristian Javier opposite Zack Wheeler in the series finale against the Phillies on Thursday afternoon.

The Astros scored six runs against Christopher Sánchez, the reigning NL Cy Young runner-up and current NL wins leader. It went for naught. They forged leads of 4-0 in the third inning and 6-4 in the fourth and held neither, despite countering Sánchez with their own ace.

Philadelphia erased the first deficit with a four-run third against Hunter Brown, ignited by tough batted-ball luck. Cam Smith wrested back a lead with a two-run home run against Sánchez in the fourth inning. Trea Turner halved with a solo homer off Brown in the fifth, his final frame.

An apparent pitching duel between 2025 Cy Young finalists did not materialize. Brown allowed five runs – four earned – on seven hits. Six of the hits were against his slider, curveball or changeup. He threw 90 pitches to get through five innings, striking out seven. His ERA is 3.52.

Sánchez surrendered 10 hits, including home runs from Smith and Isaac Paredes. All six runs he allowed were earned. He completed the sixth, but still, an Astros team starving for offensive consistency scarcely can afford to squander such outbursts at this point.

Twelve hits tied for their second-most in a game since the trade deadline. They included a milestone hit for Jose Altuve, the 2,500th of his major-league career. Five different Astros struck two hits, including all of Jeremy Peña, Yordan Alvarez and Paredes.

The Phillies’ offense undid that effort. Their six-run sixth was the capper. Enyel De Los Santos finished it for the Astros, who used Tatsuya Imai for the final two innings. Their leverage relievers, save Blubaugh, should be available for Thursday’s finale as a result.

PHILLIES 11, ASTROS 7

a-singled for Marsh in the 6th. b-struck out for Barrosa in the 9th.

E_Smith (6), Walker (3), Arraez (8), Schwarber (1). LOB_Houston 4, Philadelphia 5. 2B_Diaz (13), Alvarez (30), Altuve (21), Peña (18), Arraez (30). HR_Paredes (19), off Sánchez; Smith (19), off Sánchez; Turner (19), off Brown; Schwarber (44), off Blubaugh. RBIs_Alvarez (96), Paredes 3 (82), Diaz (35), Smith 2 (53), Turner 2 (56), Harper 2 (82), Arraez (58), Sosa (42), De La Cruz (12), Schwarber 4 (92). SB_Turner (19). CS_Arraez (1). S_Barrosa.

Runners left in scoring position_Houston 1 (Varsho); Philadelphia 2 (Arraez, Realmuto). RISP_Houston 5 for 9; Philadelphia 6 for 15.

Runners moved up_Peña, Alvarez, Crawford. GIDP_Paredes, Alvarez.

DP_Philadelphia 2 (Stott, Arraez, Schwarber; Arraez, Turner, Schwarber).

Inherited runners-scored_Blubaugh 3-3. WP_Imai.

ABS Challenge_Harper (Strike-Confirmed); Sánchez (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Brown (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Brown (Ball-Confirmed).

Umpires_Home, Brock Ballou; First, Jeremie Rehak; Second, Adam Beck; Third, Dan Iassogna.

T_2:54. A_38,642 (42,901).

Astros strike first against Sánchez

Sánchez entered with a 16-5 record and 2.58 ERA in 29 starts this year. In just five of them had the left-hander allowed four or more earned runs. The Astros, who entered with the fifth-fewest runs scored in the majors since the trade deadline, struck for four in the third inning.

Smith opened it with a cue-shot single on an 0-2 changeup. A sacrifice bunt and a ground out put him at third base with two outs. Sánchez built a full count to Alvarez, who golfed a changeup to the gap in right-center field. Smith jogged home on the double.

It was just the third hit by a left-handed hitter in 31 at-bats ending on Sánchez’s changeup this season to that point, per Baseball Savant. It sparked a big inning.

Sánchez fell behind 3-0 to Paredes, who pounced on a 3-0 sinker, driving it 409 feet to left-center. It was the first time Paredes has homered on a 3-0 pitch in his career. He’d put a 3-0 pitch in play just six times previously, per Baseball Savant.

Altuve drove a first-pitch sinker for a double and a milestone hit. Yainer Diaz sent a first-pitch changeup back up the middle for a single to score him. Eight hitters saw just 20 total pitches from Sánchez in the inning, but they built a 4-0 lead – one the Phillies promptly erased.

How did Hunter Brown pitch?

Brown, staked to a lead, could not deliver a shutdown inning. Batted-ball luck burned him again as the Phillies answered Houston’s four-run third with their own.

They built it with five singles. None of the first three carried an exit velocity above 90.6 mph, according to Statcast; 95 mph is the hard-hit threshold. None of the five were against Brown’s sinker or four-seam fastball, surely frustrating given his faith in those pitches.

Realmuto chopped a slider up the middle for a leadoff hit. De La Cruz poked a slider through the right side of the infield at 73.8 mph off the bat, sending Realmuto to third. Brown struck out Schwarber and built a 1-2 count against Turner.

Turner, on a curveball off the plate, struck a grounder through the right side. Realmuto scored. Turner stole second before Bryce Harper yanked a changeup into right at 98.6 mph off the bat. Both runners scored. Smith’s throw to the plate sailed, with nobody backing up.

Harper took second, allowing him to score when Arraez stung a single by Brown’s head and into center field, capping a four-run rally. Diaz threw out Arraez trying to steal second to puncture it before Brown struck out Bryson Stott to end the inning.

Jose Altuve attains a milestone

Altuve continued his climb up the all-time hits leaderboard with his third-inning double, reaching 2,500 career hits. He drove Sánchez’s sinker just out of the reach of center fielder Justin Crawford and cruised into second base. The Astros stood along the railing of their dugout and applauded.

Altuve, 36, is the 103rd player to reach 2,500 regular-season hits in Major League Baseball, according to Baseball Reference. He joined Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who attained the benchmark in June, as the only active players with 2,500 hits.

The second baseman and face of the Astros franchise, once turned away from a tryout in Venezuela as a teenager, reached the milestone at age 36 years and 126 days and in his 2,095th regular-season game. He and Craig Biggio are the only players to total 2,500 hits with the Astros.

Altuve and Biggio are two of just 12 players in MLB history to amass at least 2,500 hits, 250 home runs and 300 stolen bases. Altuve, for now, is one of three of those players with a lifetime batting average of at least .300, along with Derek Jeter and Willie Mays.

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This article originally published at Astros fall as Phillies hammer Houston pitching in middle innings to overcome defict.