Phillies bats go cold in second straight shutout loss against Astros

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jun 25, 2025

Published in Baseball

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HOUSTON — Brandon Marsh’s line drive to right field in the eighth inning looked as if it might give the Phillies a glimmer of hope.

It marked their first hit since the fifth inning, as the Astros bullpen had steamrolled towards their second consecutive shutout. Trea Turner immediately followed it up with another single, and an infield hit from Kyle Schwarber loaded the bases.

For a team that had slugged 198 home runs last season, a 1-0 deficit should have been trivial. But for a team that had not scored since the seventh inning on Sunday against the New York Mets, it might as well have been Mount Everest.

And sure enough, Alec Bohm fouled off four pitches before waving at a fastball well outside, and Nick Castellanos grounded out, leaving the Phillies’ best hope of ending their scoreless streak at third base.

By the time the game ended, a 2-0 loss, the streak had reached 19 straight innings, the longest drought of the season so far.

For the second consecutive night, the Phillies’ starting pitcher held the Astros to a single run. But also for the second consecutive night, the Phillies offense failed to back up the performance.

An early run scored on Zack Wheeler before he could record an out in the first inning ultimately became the difference in the game. Jeremy Peña led off the inning with a ground-rule double and scored when a ball skipped under Turner’s glove at shortstop.

Wheeler allowed the first two batters to reach in the second inning, too, with a walk and a single. But he started cruising after that, rediscovering his fastball command to retire the next nine consecutive Astros. He sidestepped two more walks and a single in the sixth to keep Houston from inflicting further damage on the scoreboard.

Wheeler threw more sinkers than is typical for him, turning to the pitch 30% of the time for double his normal usage rate.

The Phillies hit eight balls harder than 95 mph that resulted in outs, including a deep flyout from Bryson Stott that would have been a home run in 10 other ballparks. Edmundo Sosa’s double on Tuesday marks the Phillies’ only extra-base hit of the series so far.

Victor Caratini hit a solo home run off Matt Strahm in the eighth. Josh Hader retired three straight Phillies in the ninth to close the game.