A win, then the hard part
Houston took the opener 6-5 on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Wednesday is the game that actually tells you something.
Christian Walker, Cam Smith and Daulton Varsho all went deep against rookie Andrew Painter, who gave up five runs across five innings. Varsho added a third hit later. Hayden Wesneski held the Phillies to three runs over six.
“Just timely hitting by them,” Painter said. “They put a lot of balls in the right spots.”
The Astros are 74-71 and have won eight of their last 12. That run has pushed them two games clear of Texas at the top of the American League West, with a six-game road trip only one night old.
“We’re playing big games right now,” Wesneski said. “The wins, they’re massive. These are really important games, and guys feel it. We need to win. It’s as simple as that.”
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Sanchez waits
Philadelphia sit 81-64, four games behind Atlanta in the National League East, and they hand the ball to Cristopher Sanchez. He is 16-5 with a 2.58 ERA. Friday against the Braves he went six innings, allowed three runs on five hits, and still lost 5-2.
“He seemed to get better and better as the night went,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “After the second inning, he settled down the whole time and was getting better as the game went.”
Houston have seen him once in the regular season. He struck out 11 and gave up a single run over six innings in that 2025 meeting.
Brown’s quiet streak
Hunter Brown answers for the Astros. He is 5-3 with a 3.31 ERA and has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his last eight starts, most recently two runs over six innings in a 6-2 win against the Chicago White Sox last Thursday. That night he needed 28 pitches to get out of the second.
“Honestly, I was kind of dragging my blanket a little bit after the second inning,” Brown said. “I couldn’t believe that. I’m better than that.”
Brown has thrown 9 1/3 career innings against Philadelphia without conceding a run. Trea Turner, who faced him last week, compared his lower arm slot and the movement on his fastball to Paul Skenes.
One more number hangs over the night. Jose Altuve arrives on 2,499 career hits after going 0-for-5 in the opener.
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