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Phillies 0-5 Astros, top 6th inning
Valdez meets Hoskins, who hits a seeing-eye single. That’s two on and nobody off. With 88 pitches, is Valdez finally tiring?
Phillies 0-5 Astros, top 6th inning
Valdez thinks he slammed Schwarber on a 2-2 pitch, but instead it’s referred to as a ball. Just like the next pitch. Schwarber is on base for a Phillies team that desperately needs baserunners.
Email from David Howell:
An observation…
Did the Astros, presumably aware of Houston’s reputation for frisky leads when a championship is at stake, ensure they get into Game 1 so the Phillies can have the lead in the series? This team seems to have everything else planned…
That’s something the baseball gods tend to disapprove of, so I doubt it. Then again, they were just rewarded for that wrong game-delaying maneuver in the last inning, so maybe Houston is beyond good and evil.
Phillies 0-5 Astros, bottom 5th inning
Gurriel is trying to finish the inning, but the Phillies are now in a 5-0 hole and don’t have as many outs to work with as they had after going in Game 1 in fell the same hole.
Phillies 0-5 Astros, bottom 5th inning
And Wheeler gives Kyle Tucker a four-pitch walk. It feels like he’s shaken up after the home run.
2 Run home, run! (Astro) Phillies 0-5 Astros
Phillies 0-5 Astros, bottom 5th inning
Okay, back to actual baseball. Wheeler tosses two straight balls to Bregman. 2-0 Already on the next pitch he hits a home run! The Astros lead 5-0.
Or maybe the Phillies want them there?
The call on the field stands and Houston loses a challenge they should have kept for a much more important moment in the game.
Okay, the Houston Astros challenged the out call on second base, which is just the pettiest thing. No wonder people hate this team.
And the referee crew comes together, presumably because the game is going a little too fast and it’s time to slow things down.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 5th inning
Álvarez is up and making an outfield choice in what is almost a double play. This clears Altuve, but Álvarez stays for now. Two out in the inning.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 5th inning
Peña is initially done with Altuve. Wheeler will have to spend some time focusing on Altuve, who is always a threat for theft. Wheeler throws a strike to Peña. 0-1 The next pitch is fouled. 0-2 And Wheeler gets his third strikeout of the game a pitch later.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 5th inning
Wheeler pitches for Altuve, who is about to get another hit. Just a single this time.
We’re halfway through the regulation! However, as we learned in Game 1, that doesn’t mean there aren’t extra innings in play.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 5th inning
Now the bases are free for the easy hitting Sosa. Valdez falls back 2-0. The next pitch is directly in the middle for the first beat called out. 2-1 Sosa fouls the next one. 2-2 Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” riff plays in the stadium, which gets everyone excited and tries to cheer for Valdez’s eighth strikeout.
Instead, this is another parking space outside. 3-2 Sosa swings to the next pitch and fouls it. 3-2 He’s in the next place, but unfortunately that’s the third for him.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 5th inning
Next up is Matt Vierling. He looks at a ball and then at a strike. 1-1 He takes a wild hit on a curveball. 1-2 He then promptly smashes into a doubles game, just what Houston was looking for there.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 5th inning
Valdez throws a jewel tonight and smothers the Phillies’ bats. Of course, as soon as I write this, Segura hits a leadoff single.
I vote for everyone who supports the end of campaign ads at sporting events.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 4th inning
Maldonado hits a hot shot for the third to end the inning. Bohm has to jump to grab it, but in the end, an out is an out. The fourth inning was pretty quick.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 4th inning
McCormick is up and he hits a single that actually sneaks through the fielders.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 4th inning
Díaz is next back up and he comes up with the quick out thing and comes up short after only two pitches. Again, Philadelphia would like to get some length out of their ace.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 4th inning
Wheeler introduces himself to Yuli Gurriel, who falls short. I won’t lie and say I don’t appreciate those quick outs after yesterday’s endless epic.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 4th inning
Böhm fouls the first throw he sees. Then he takes a seat right inside. It feels like this is a tight strike zone from the home plate umpire. The next pitch? This one is quite the ball by anyone’s standards. 2-1. Böhm swings and misses the next throw. 2-2 Valdez gets a called third strike and that will be his seventh k of the day.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 4th inning
And Castellanos, who made a brilliant catch in yesterday’s game, lands in third place straight away.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 4th inning
Valdez gets Harper trailing 2-0, not that there’s any count Harper wouldn’t be dangerous at. He fouls the next two pitches. Still a 0-2 counter. After a break, Valdez makes Harper his sixth strikeout casualty of the game.
Just a note that the song in that over and over WhatsApp commercial is “Can You Get To That”. by Funkadelic and it’s one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Okay, now for the fourth inning.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 3rd inning
Kyle Tucker hits another massive flyball, but it stays in the park for the third out of the inning. For the fourth!
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 3rd inning
With a runner first and nobody out, Bregman is on top. Bregman swings and misses, according to the umpires, and then takes a ball. 1-1. Then he takes another ball. Wheeler is just missing here with the slider, not much but enough for the referee’s hitting zone. Bregman swings and misses the fourth throw of the at-bat. 2-2 The next pitch? That almost hits him. 3-2
And he hits in a double! That wasn’t an ideal result. There are now two away and none on base.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 3rd inning
Wheeler’s out there to start the third inning. You can imagine Philadelphia looking for depth from him considering they emptied the bullpen to secure yesterday’s Game 1 to win.
Álvarez is Houston’s turn and he’s fouling the first spot he sees. Then he picks up a pitch. 1-1 The next pitch? Also a bit high. 2-1 And the next too. 3-1 The next throw… is a hip ball, although it feels borderline.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 3rd inning
Realmuto is up and lands in the first place he sees. The Schwarber single is free.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 3rd inning
Runner on first for Hoskins. He’s on strike. 0-1 Hoskins swings away. 0-2 Wrong both times it seems. 0-2 And he swings to the next space to the fence and the ball isn’t there either. Another Valdez strike.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 3rd inning
Schwarber falls back 0:2 and then takes a curve away. 1-2 He fouls a fastball, this is 97 mph and it’s amazing at times that players can even come into contact with some of these courts. The next pitch is a ball. 2-2. Just like the next pitch. 3-2 Schwarber connects and puts down a ball in the outfield that somehow just becomes a single one.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, top 3rd inning
Valdez is out again and meets Edmundo Sosa. Sosa takes a breaking pitch for a ball. 1-0. Then the next pitch is a called strike. 1-1 And a foul. 1-2 Sosa names time. The next pitch is in the dirt. 2-2 Sosa fouls the next pitch away. 2-2 Another foul: Sosa plays the keep the at-bat alive game. 2-2 Sosa swings and misses. The at-bat is officially dead.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 2nd inning
And Peña falls short to finish the second inning. Much less drama going around.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 2nd inning
Altuve, who started the game with a bang, is already up there again and this time just pops out. Still, I can’t fault him for keeping up with the aggressive swinging.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 2nd inning
Martin Maldonado is next. He falls behind 0-2 and then 0-3. This is a strikeout for the first of the innings. McCormick is still first.
Phillies 0-3 Astros, bottom 2nd inning
Wheeler is back up and hoping for a better second inning than his first. He meets Chas McCormick, who counts fully. The thugs see him well. And he goes for a walk. Another Astros baserunner.
I’m just posting this as proof that I haven’t hallucinated this little bit of baseball wisdom. No, other people heard it too:
“Giving up a walk there feels worse than a home run because you feel like you’re giving them momentum” – John Smoltz
— Kev (@klew24) October 30, 2022