Jeremy Pena scored following his leadoff double in the first inning and Victor Caratini added a critical insurance run in the eighth for the Houston Astros, who topped the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 on Wednesday.
Before Caratini slugged his sixth home run of the season with two outs in the eighth, a 423-foot blast to left-center field off Phillies reliever Matt Strahm, the Astros were clinging to the one-run lead they grabbed in the first when Pena scored on Isaac Paredes’ single to center.
Pena slapped an opposite-field double to right off Phillies starter Zack Wheeler (7-3) and rounded third when Paredes dribbled a grounder past the outstretched glove of shortstop Trea Turner.
Wheeler allowed four hits total before departing after six innings with one run, three walks and eight strikeouts on his ledger. He threw 100 pitches, 64 for strikes.
Handcuffed by three left-handers — starter Colton Gordon (3-1) and relievers Steven Okert and Bennett Sousa — across seven innings, the Phillies mounted a serious threat against the fourth Houston southpaw, Bryan King, in the eighth.
Brandon Marsh and Turner laced consecutive one-out singles off King to place runners at the corners for Kyle Schwarber, who bounced a high chopper that Astros first baseman Christian Walker gloved with a leaping grab that prevented Marsh from scoring from third base. However, Walker could not beat Schwarber to the bag, loading the bases for Alec Bohm.
King rallied with a strikeout of Bohm, then induced a grounder to Pena at short from Nick Castellanos that preserved the one-run lead. Closer Josh Hader, the fifth left-hander of the night for Houston, recorded his 21st save with a perfect ninth.
Gordon worked five innings and allowed four hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Okert struck out the side in the sixth, including called third strikes against Schwarber and Bohm. Sousa struck out Edmundo Sosa to close the seventh, and Hader recorded a strikeout of J.T. Realmuto to open the ninth.
The five Astros left-handers combined for 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk.
Schwarber and Marsh had two hits apiece for the Phillies, who were shut out by the Astros for the second straight night. Houston will try to sweep the three-game interleague series on Thursday afternoon.
–Field Level Media
