A bad night from Andrew Painter and disastrous base running dooms the Phillies in 6-5 loss to the Astros

Frustrating doesn’t even begin to cover it. The Phillies fell behind the Astros 5-0 through four innings Tuesday night, clawed almost all the way back, and then watched the entire comeback come undone on the bases in a 6-5 loss at Citizens Bank Park.

This is the kind of game that eats at you, because they beat themselves. A lousy start from Andrew Painter and a night of brutal, inexcusable baserunning turned a winnable game into a loss. It genuinely feels like this team could be undefeated in September if it just stopped shooting itself in the foot.

Phillies Baserunning is an absolute catastrophe

Let’s start here, because this is what cost them the game. It was a mess on the bases all night, and it came back to bite them over and over.

Down two with nobody out in the seventh, right after Brandon Marsh doubled home a run, Marsh broke toward third and got doubled off second when Jeremy Pena made a diving play on a Realmuto liner. That completely changed the complexion of the inning, which fizzled out on a Derek Hill strikeout.

Brandon Marsh. The Worst.

WHAT A PLAY!

Jeremy Peña makes the diving catch and doubles off Brandon Marsh at 2nd 🤯 pic.twitter.com/e7QnP7keTE

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) September 9, 2026

B/R Walkoff saying “what a play” like something amazing happened. Insane. You simply cannot get doubled off second there. Ever. That’s a rally-killer in a one-score game, and it’s the exact kind of mistake good teams don’t make.

Alec Bohm being the slowest man in all of Major League Baseball didn’t help either. Stott nearly passed him rounding second. Both of them should have scored. It was a comedy of errors on the basepaths from the first inning to the last, and it’s the whole reason this is a loss instead of a win.

Stott Doesn’t Score Because of Alec Bohm

Marsh plates one! pic.twitter.com/cOWNyOY46E

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 9, 2026

Then it happened AGAIN in the ninth. Still down two against Josh Hader, Bryson Stott singled to lead off and Edmundo Sosa followed with an RBI double. Sounds great on paper and listen, I love Edmundo Sosa because he’s been clutch over the past month but he screwed this one up.

What's that line? pic.twitter.com/EmgJGf9OrN

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 9, 2026

Sosa thought he just crushed a game-tying home run and barely moved out of the box. That cost him third base with nobody out in a one-run game. He eventually got to third, but with two outs, and then Hader retired Schwarber to end it.

If Sosa busts it out of the box, he’s standing on third with nobody out and the tying run 90 feet away. Instead, the inning died and the game was over.

Bad Night for Andrew Painter

The other culprit was Andrew Painter, who chose a bad time to turn in his worst start in a while. He allowed five runs and 10 hits to the 25 batters he faced, and it dug the Phillies a hole they couldn’t quite climb out of.

The frustrating part is Painter walked in on a genuine roll. He had a 3.41 ERA in seven starts since his Triple-A return and had reeled off three straight quality starts, including that seven-inning, two-hit, no-walk gem in Arizona last week.

So maybe this was an aberration, not a trend but either way, it happened at the worst time. Christian Walker, a Montgomery County kid who grew up just outside Philly, did the big damage with a three-run homer on a 1-1 sinker in the second, and Cam Smith added a solo shot on a hanging sweeper in the fourth to make it 5-0.

When your starter spots a good team a five-run lead, you’re usually cooked, and the Phillies nearly overcame it anyway.

Give the offense credit for the fight, because they nearly bailed everyone out. They chipped away all night and kept clawing, and if not for the baserunning blunders, they very likely win this game. They did the hard part, battling back from five down against a good Astros team. They just couldn’t get out of their own way on the bases to finish it.

At Least the Standings Held

The one silver lining, and it’s a real one, is that the Phillies didn’t lose any ground despite the loss, because both the Braves and Cubs also lost. The Phillies remain four games back of Atlanta in the NL East and a half-game up on Chicago for the top Wild Card spot with 17 to play.

Flush it, tighten up the fundamentals, and get back to winning the games you’re supposed to win. If the Phillies play clean baseball, they’re as good as anyone. Tuesday was a reminder that the biggest thing standing between this team and a deep October run might just be the Phillies themselves.

Join The Chase