HOUSTON — Aaron Nola pitched eight easy innings, Kyle Schwarber homered and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Houston Astros 3-1 on Friday evening in a rematch of final yr’s World Series.
Nola (2-2) yielded one run and three hits with six strikeouts. Philadelphia supervisor Rob Thomson known as the efficiency “unbelievable.”
“Nola kept getting better and better as the game went on,” Thomson stated. “The seventh inning was so quick that I just made sure he was OK to go out there in the eighth, and he shut them down.”
The right-hander retired 11 straight throughout one stretch after which the ultimate 12 batters he confronted.
“After (the fifth), I felt like I settled down,” Nola stated. “I was trying to get some early outs. The key was to get the leadoff guy out, which I did.”
Nola had allowed no less than three runs in every of his earlier 5 begins this season.
PHOTOS: Nola pitches Phils previous Astros 3-1 in World Series rematch
“He can pitch,” Thomson stated. “When he’s got more fastball, he can power past it, but when he doesn’t, he can pitch. He can keep you off balance, get soft contact and still get some swings and misses. His breaking ball was good. He started his secondary pitches for strikes as the game went on. I think that was the difference.”
Schwarber hit a solo residence run within the first earlier than Jeremy Peña answered within the backside half with one in every of his personal.
Cristian Pache gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead within the fifth with an RBI double, and Brandon Marsh added an RBI single within the seventh.
José Alvarado labored the ninth for his fifth save.
Mauricio Dubón’s 20-game hitting streak was snapped for Houston. He went 0 for 4.
Framber Valdez (2-3) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. The All-Star lefty received twice within the 2022 World Series, together with the Game 6 clincher, because the Astros beat Philadelphia for his or her second championship. Valdez gave up two runs over 12 1/3 innings in these two begins.
“Framber was good,” Houston supervisor Dusty Baker stated. “They got some big hits off him with runners in scoring position. … Nola was good tonight, and he’s been good against us before. We didn’t muster too much offense because he was dealing.”
The Astros had an opportunity to tie it within the fifth with runners on the corners and no person out, however Jake Meyers hit a gradual dribbler to first and Alec Bohm threw out José Abreu on the plate. Nola retired Rylan Bannon and Martín Maldonado to finish the risk.
HOME RUN ROBBERY
Nick Castellanos robbed Alex Bregman of a solo residence run within the backside of the primary, leaping towards the right-field wall and snagging Bregman’s lengthy fly for the ultimate out of the inning.
Castellanos fell to the bottom and sat towards the wall for a couple of seconds, leaving many questioning if he had caught the ball. But he stood up and tossed it to Pache as they ran off the sphere.
“That was just me being excited,” Castellanos stated. “I jumped up, caught it. I took in the moment for a second sitting down. Then, saw Pache there waiting for me, and it just happened. It felt good.”
FAMILIAR FOES
The Astros and Phillies have performed 10 occasions because the starting of October final yr. They ended the 2022 common season with three video games in Houston, then performed a six-game World Series that concluded Nov. 5.
“To say that we all don’t understand what happened here last year would be a lie,” Castellanos stated. “We just had their mascot stick their World Series ring in our face on the jumbotron.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Pache left within the fifth with a proper knee damage and might be evaluated additional. After main off second base, he appeared to slide as he was going again to the bag. He limped again to the bottom and was finally changed by Marsh. Thomson stated Pache was being examined physician postgame, however the supervisor stated he wasn’t too involved and Pache was eliminated as a precaution.
Astros: OF Yordan Alvarez (neck stiffness) was out of the lineup for a fourth straight sport. But he was doing higher and remained day-to-day, Baker stated. … OF Chas McCormick (decrease again) will begin a rehabilitation project with Double-A Corpus Christi on Saturday. … OF Michael Brantley (proper shoulder) began his fourth rehab sport with Triple-A Sugar Land.
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler (2-1, 4.73 ERA) begins Saturday reverse RHP Cristian Javier (2-0, 3.21) within the center sport of the sequence.
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