Houston Astros defeat Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 to win series – MLB Update
The Houston Astros overcame the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 on Tuesday, September 13 to go two-games up in the three-game series against the National League stalwarts at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
The Phillies had a bright chance of becoming the first team to officially book a berth for the postseason but the Astros came out strong to deny them a chance. The Astros are now strongly placed to complete a three-game series whitewash over the Phillies
and finally prove that Minute Maid Park is not a bad omen for them.
The game was evenly poised at 1-1 till the top of the fourth inning but an outburst by the home side in the bottom of the fourth turned things around drastically. The Astros unglued Cole Hamels for four runs to shatter the confidence of the visitors, who
had aimed to win this road trip and subsequently cement their place for the next stage.
Hunter Pence levelled the score for the Phillies with a homer down left-field after Clint Barmes had earlier given the Astros an early lead in the first inning.
Barmes was central to the fourth inning battering of Hamels, smashing a three-run homer to give the home side a crucial three-run advantage against a relatively strong pitching outfit. J.A. Happ and Jason Bourgeois scored runs from Barmes’ home-run after
J.B. Shuck had earlier scored in the same inning.
Hamels has been a revelation this season but this game was an exception. Cole had done well to restrict the Astros to just one run till the third inning but had little argument to Barmes’ offensive approach in the fourth. His earned-run average soared to
2.71 after the game but is still good enough as far as the League standards are concerned. Hamels lost his eighth game of the season with 14 wins to advocate his case.
Happ, on the contrary, was lucky to get his sixth win of the season after a decent six inning spell for the Astros. He leaked just one run in this stretch to improve his ERA to 5.59. However, his 15 losses thus far in the season continue to haunt his position
as a starter.
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