Astros win the battle, but Nick Maton wins the war in regular season finale
Final: Astros 3, Phillies 2
HOUSTON — If Wednesday’s regular season finale between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros felt like a Spring Training game, that’s because it mattered as much as Grapefruit League action does.
With a postseason berth clinched on Monday and a best-of-three playoff series set to start on Friday, reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper got the day off. J.T. Realmuto was the DH. Starting pitcher Bailey Falter only went an inning. And Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm all had abbreviated afternoons.
Chas McCormick and Yordan Alvarez both drove in runs for the Astros in the third against Phillies’ lefty Michael Plassmeyer. Recalled this morning and making just his second Major League appearance this season — or in his career, for that matter — Plassmeyer ultimately ate up six innings for the Phillies Wednesday. He allowed nine hits and three runs, with the final of those runs coming in the form of a 404-foot home run off the Halliburton advertisement in left field from catcher Christian Vázquez:
Brandon Marsh and Rhys Hoskins got the Phillies on the board with RBIs in the top of the eighth inning, but the real story of the inning (and probably the game) was a Maton-vs.-Maton battle. Younger brother Nick ultimately got the best of older brother Phil, singling into right-center field on the sixth pitch of the at-bat:
Ryan Pressley would close things out for the Astros in the top of the ninth inning, but with a postseason spot already secured, getting a hit off of your older brother in an MLB game probably was more satisfying to Maton than a win would have been.
With the loss, the Phillies finish the season at 87-75. Meanwhile, the Astros end up at 106-56. It’s the fifth time in six years that Houston has won the American League West, and fourth time they have won 101 or more games in that span.
As the Astros enjoy their first-round postseason bye, the Phillies will head to St. Louis for the National League Wild Card Series. They will have a much-needed off day Thursday, before Zack Wheeler will get the ball Friday for the first playoff game that the franchise has played in since 2011.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
- Bailey Falter pitched the first inning of Wednesday’s game, as planned. The 25-year-old allowed two hits and no earned runs. Falter finishes the 2022 campaign with a 3.86 ERA over 84 innings. Things appear to be trending towards him being on the roster for the NLWCS.
- Framber Valdez struck out 10 batters over five shutout innings. He’ll finish the season with a 2.82 ERA, 3.05 FIP and 4.4 WAR, according to FanGraphs.
The last time that the Phillies finished 87-75 was during the 1966 season. That year, the Phillies ended up fourth in the NL, eight games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers. There were, of course, no divisions and no Wild Cards back then.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- NLWCS Game 1 vs. St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, Oct. 7 at Busch Stadium
- 2:07 p.m. ET
- TV: ABC
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680
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