Phillies miss chance to keep pace in NL East, fall to Astros after Jhoan Duran surrenders ninth-inning homer
The second homer of the season against Duran wasted a gutsy effort from Zack Wheeler, who went seven innings and threw 110 pitches.
Bring on the Braves?
Sure, why not? But before the Phillies hopped a flight Thursday for a weekend showdown with the division leaders, they squandered an opportunity to set up a true first-place showdown.
Jhoan Duran gave up a tiebreaking solo homer to Cam Smith in the ninth inning of a 2-1 loss to the Astros. And so, instead of showing up for three games in Atlanta with a three-game deficit, the Phillies slid to four games back in the National League East — and functionally five because the Braves own the tiebreaker.
Oh well.
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The second homer of the season against Duran came at an inopportune time. It also wasted a gutsy effort from Zack Wheeler, who was on fumes in the seventh inning when he struck out pinch-hitting Yainer Diaz on his 110th pitch to leave the bases loaded.
In what may foretell how the Phillies approach similar situations in the postseason, interim manager Don Mattingly stuck with Wheeler even though rookie Alex McFarlane was ready in the bullpen.
Wheeler walked the previous two batters to load the bases. He tried to get Diaz to swing at a two-strike splitter in the dirt before slinging a sweeper for the strikeout.
There were undeniable echoes of the 2022 World Series in the Astros’ every-other-year visit to Philadelphia.
Start here: The Phillies didn’t have a hit for four innings against Cristian Javier, who threw the first six innings of a combined no-hitter in Game 5. Back on the mound here for the first time since then, he finally gave up a leadoff single to Luis Arraez in the fifth inning.
Unlike in Game 6 in 2022, Wheeler was allowed to face Yordan Alvarez in the sixth inning — and struck him out. Alvarez, who famously homered against José Alvarado after Rob Thomson went to the bullpen, faced the big lefty reliever for the first time since then in the eighth inning and walked intentionally.
Back here in the present, the Astros struck first in the second inning when Wheeler hung a curveball to Taylor Trammell for a two-out RBI double.
The Phillies tied the game in the fifth inning on Arraez’s single, Alec Bohm’s double, and a fielder’s choice from Bryson Stott.
