Final: Phillies 6, Astros 1
It’s a World Series rematch, and Nick Castellanos has owned the stage.
The day after he made a brilliant home-run-robbing catch in right field, the second-year Phillie launched a homer of his own to help defeat the Astros for the second straight game.
His fourth-inning no-doubter put the Phillies on top in a 6-1 victory over Houston on Saturday evening in their second of three games against the Astros. Castellanos went 2-for-5 with two extra-base hits, setting the tone for the offense while Zack Wheeler dominated on the mound to clinch the series win.
Wheeler, pitching in the same stadium as in his start in Game 6 of the World Series, looked as sharp as he’s looked all year, allowing only three hits and striking out seven batters in six scoreless innings to give the Phillies (15-13) their fourth win in a row.
With Wheeler dealing, the Phillies got on the board in the top of the fourth as Castellanos homered onto the train tracks in left field off Cristian Javier to go up 1-0.
They added another in the same inning as Brandon Marsh avoided the tag at home on a J.T. Realmuto sacrifice fly, and Kody Clemens ripped a two-run home run in the sixth to make it 4-0.
The Phillies kept the offense rolling in the eighth with two more runs as Alec Bohm shot an RBI double into the right-center and Jake Cave plated one with a single.
With Wheeler in control through six in his best start of 2023 so far, the Phillies had breathing room for the bullpen. After Seranthony Domínguez pitched a scoreless seventh, Andrew Vasquez allowed Houston’s first run in the bottom of the eighth on a Jeremy Peña homer. But Yunior Marte took down a scoreless ninth for Philadelphia to close it out, setting up a a chance to sweep the Astros on Sunday Night Baseball.
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
- Castellanos blasted his fourth home run of the season and doubled on Saturday, raising his OPS to .908. That mark is 215 points higher than his OPS in 2022.
- With six shutout innings, this was Wheeler’s first scoreless outing of the year.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Sunday, April 30, vs. Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park
- 7:10 p.m. Eastern
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94WIP
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