After falling frustratingly short of a comeback last night in the series opener, the Philadelphia Phillies (82-64) tamed a wild game with one zaddy of a swing against the Houston Astros (74-71) in an 11-7 rollercoaster of a baseball game.
The pitchers’ duel between Cristopher Sanchez and Hunter Brown proved to be anything but, as the starters combined to allow 11 runs over the first five innings.
Sanchez allowed six runs for the third time this season and double digit hits for the fifth time and still
picked up his 17th win of the season, the most by a Phillies pitcher since Aaron Nola in 2018.
Half of those hits came in the top of the third inning as the Astros pounced on Sanchez with an RBI double by Yordan Alvarez, a two-run home run by Isaac Paredes and an RBI single by Yainer Diaz to take a 4-0 lead.
The Phillies got those runs right back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Trea Turner, a two-RBI single by Bryce Harper and an RBI single by Luis Arraez to tie it.
Daulton Varsho led off the fourth inning with a bunt single and Cam Smith took Sanchez deep on a 3-1 fastball to put Houston back in front 6-4.
Trea Turner continued his resurgence with his second hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth, a first-pitch solo shot to bring the deficit within one.
Bryan King had a night to not tell his grandkids about as he took the mound in relief of Brown in the bottom of the sixth and graciously coughed up the lead and loaded the bases before departing. AJ Blubaugh came in and struck out JT Realmuto before walking Bryan De La Cruz to push home the go-ahead run. In the next AB, Kyle Schwarber worked the count full before punishing a 3-2 sweeper to right field to blow the game open with his major league-leading 44th home run of the year and 10th grand slam of his career.
Jonathan Bowlan allowed a double and an RBI single by Paredes in the seventh inning to cut the lead to four.
Alex McFarlane pitched a scoreless frame in the eighth and Jhoan Duran slammed the door in a non-save situation that felt just like one on a crazy night.
Phils look to take the series tomorrow afternoon as Zack Wheeler faces off against Cristian Javier.
