Houston Astros Drop Series to Phillies as Bats Fall Silent
The Houston Astros fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 on Saturday night, dropping their second-straight game to the reigning National League champions and subsequently the series.
The Astros (14-13) were red-hot coming into the series but have been stifled by Philadelphia's rotation. On Saturday night, it was Zack Wheeler's turn to baffle the Astros as he turned in a 6.0 inning scoreless outing.
The only run of the evening for Houston came via a Jeremy Peña solo home run in the eighth inning off of Phillies reliever Andrew Vasquez.
Houston starter Cristian Javier struggled as he threw 5.2 innings while allowing three earned runs and a home run. He came just shy of a quality start.
Left-hander Seth Martin then gave up another two runs eighth inning.
The Astros have to find some offense in order to gain momentum and get back in the win column. Even with Yordan Alvarez back in the lineup Houston's offense was still feast or famine.
They will get their chance to right the ship on Sunday on national television. Jose Urquidy (1-2. 5.64) will take the mound against Bailey Falter (0-4, 4.50) for a 6:10 p.m. CT start on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
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