The Houston Astros fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 in extra innings on Monday night inside Citizens Bank Park in Philly. The loss moves Houston to 70-61 for the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Phillies sent Zack Wheeler to the mound in this one. Wheeler gave up a single, but worked around it in the first inning to put up a zero to start the game.
The Astros countered with righty Ronel Blanco. Blanco gave up a walk but erased it on a double play. He then got through the inning with no damage done and kept the game 0-0.
This one had the makings of a pitcher’s duel early. Both right-handers had good stuff, and they matched each other with zeroes in the second and third innings.
In the top of the fourth, Houston got things going. A walk and single put two runners on. Then, Shay Whitcomb doubled to left, bringing home two runs to make it 2-0 Astros.
The Phillies answered that in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the lead in half. They did so on a solo home run from Brandon Marsh off of Blanco to make it 2-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Philly would tie the game. Bryce Harper led off with a double. After being moved to third on a groundout, he scored on an RBI single from Nick Castellanos. That tied things at two.
The game would stay tied for the next several innings. Neither team scored in the seventh, eighth, or ninth innings. That brought us to extras to decide the game.
In extra innings, the Astros began with a runner on second base. However, they were unable to get the runner in to take the lead. That gave Philadelphia a golden opportunity to take advantage. Harper came through with the walkoff RBI single.
BIG NUMBER: 0
The Astros did not score a single run past the fourth inning. That includes extras, when they started with a runner on second base. It costed them in this one.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Bryce Harper
Harper walked this one off with a game-winning RBI single. For the game, he was 2-3 with a couple of walks as well. He led the way for the Phillies in this game.
UP NEXT: Game two between the Astros and Phillies will be tomorrow, August 27th at 5:40 PM. You can listen to the action on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.