Aaron Nola, Phillies climb above .500 for the first time this season following 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros
The Philadelphia Phillies are over the .500 mark for the first time in the 2023 MLB season after a 3-1 win against the Houston Astros last night.
Kyle Schwarber hit a first-inning home run off of Framber Valdez to give the Phillies an early 1-0 lead against the Astros.
Note: Lefties have hit just four home runs off Valdez the last two seasons and Kyle Schwarber has two of them.
Aaron Nola gave a run back to the second batter he faced when Jeremy Pena hit a home run to centerfield.
Two batters later, Alex Bergman crushed a ball to right field but Nick Castellanos leaped over the wall and robbed the home run. Castellanos made the leap, then fell to the ground and pretty much just sat there, leaving the AppleTV+ announces confused on whether or not he actually made the catch.
Casty popped up, stuck out his tongue, and tossed the ball to Cristian Pache, revealing that he just committed robbery on the Houston Astros, while keeping the score tied at 1-1.
Nick Castellanos GOLD GLOVE.
Aaron Nola settled in from there, allowing just that one run over eight innings while striking out six.
As much as Nola struggled over his first few starts, he’s now the only pitcher in the National League this season with consecutive starts of at least seven innings.
Cristian Pache doubled in the top of the fifth inning on a line drive to right fielder Kyle Tucker, scoring Edmundo Sosa to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
Brandon Marsh then pinch hit in the top of the seventh inning on a ground ball to center, again scoring Edmundo Sosa to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.
That was all she wrote last night, with Jose Alvarado shutting the doors in the ninth inning. Alvarado, who let up a brutal three-run home run to Yordan Alvarez that basically won the Astros the World Series last season, pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save of the year.
The Phillies are now above the .500 mark for the first time this season with a 14-13 record. They are four games behind the first place Atlanta Braves and just a game behind the second place New York Mets in the National League East standings.
Game 2 against the Astros is at 5:10PM.
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