Categories: 2023 Postgame Recaps

Astros get to Falter early as Phillies miss out on sweep

Bailey Falter allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings on Sunday. (Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire)

Final Score: Astros 4, Phillies 3

The Phillies got some tiny fraction of revenge in Houston this weekend, but they’ll have to settle for the series victory instead of a sweep.

The Astros jumped out to an early lead off Bailey Falter in the first inning. After loading the bases with no outs (with the help of two walks), Falter induced a double play from José Abreu that thwarted a potential crooked number but put Houston ahead 1-0.

J.T. Realmuto, whose late-April turnaround has been a key part of the Phillies’ own, got that run right back in the second. His solo shot traveled 348 feet, a mere two feet longer than his last homer at Minute Maid Park: the 10th-inning opposite-field shot that won the Phillies Game 1 of the 2022 World Series.

Sunday’s was also a wall-scraper, but it evened things up regardless:

The teams kept trading blows in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Marsh nearly made a nice sliding catch against David Hensley to lead off the inning, but the ball bounced off his glove for a double. With two outs, Martín Maldonado snuck a line drive just over an outstretched Nick Castellanos for a 2-1 lead.

The Phillies blew a golden opportunity in the fourth. Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber reached with no outs, but Castellanos and Marsh lined out before Alec Bohm popped out to waste it. Instead of the Phillies shrinking the lead that inning, Jake Meyers extended it.

Kody Clemens answered by providing the fourth solo homer of the game.

It wouldn’t have been a homer in any other MLB stadium besides Minute Maid Park. So, naturally, the Astros caught a break of their own in the fifth, when a Kyle Tucker bloop into no-man’s land and a nice read by Alex Bregman gave them a 4-2 lead.

Schwarber singled to lead off the eighth and eventually scored on a Bregman fielding error, trimming the deficit back to one. The Phillies went quietly from there, however, as Ryan Pressly closed it out with a perfect ninth inning.

Despite the loss, the Phillies will head to Los Angeles on the heels of four straight series victories. They’re 15-14 on the season, and reinforcements could be on the way — soon.

Shibe Vintage Sports Notes

Clemens’ homer was his second of the weekend series in his hometown, and his third in four games overall. Clemens’ future upon an impending Bryce Harper return is unclear, but the way he’s hitting of late, it’d be hard to make him the roster casualty.

Gregory Soto threw a perfect seventh inning, bringing him to 10 2/3 innings of one-hit ball across his last 11 appearances. (We’ll also call it 10 2/3 scoreless innings, because the only run technically on his line in that span is a 10th-inning zombie runner who scored from second after he departed.)
Luis Ortiz also fired a scoreless inning in the eighth. He’s allowed one run in eight frames to start off his Phillies tenure.

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