The Phillies played the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-game series July 21-23. They won the first and third games but lost the second only by one run. The Phillies then hosted the Houston Astros in a three-game series July 24-26. The Phillies lost the first two games to the Astros, who are currently leading the American League West, but won the third game in a shutout.
The Phillies’ first game against the Brewers — who were then leading the National League Central — was their third straight win after taking two wins against the Miami Marlins earlier last week. They won the first game 6-1.
Pitcher Aaron Nola lasted seven innings, only allowing one run. He struck out nine of Milwaukee’s batters and allowed only five hits. This was the Brewers’ sixth straight loss.
Milwaukee came back to win the second game of this series 9-8 by the skin of their teeth. They were leading 8-1 in the seventh inning until the Phillies drove in seven home runs by the end of the eighth inning to tie the game. The Phillies fell short, as the Brewers managed to score a ninth run to recapture the lead.
The third game of this series was scoreless for the first three innings until the Phillies hit two home runs in the bottom of the fourth. Nick Williams hit a homer to left center field driving in Maikel Franco to lead 2-0.
Jonathan Villar hit a line drive to left field in the top of the fifth inning to drive home Brett Phillips and Orlando Arcia. This tied the game 2-2, but the Phillies weren’t done yet.
With the bases loaded, Howie Kendrick singled on a ground ball to center field, allowing Jerad Eickhoff and Cesar Hernandez to score and Freddy Galvis to move to second base. The Phillies increased their lead to 4-2.
Nick Williams got to first base on an error, allowing Freddy Galvis to reach home plate and Howie Kendrick to move to second base. With a line drive single from Odubel Herrera, Howie Kendrick scored the last run for the Phillies to close out this series against the Brewers.
The first game against the Houston Astros was delayed due to rain, but this didn’t stop the Astros from winning 13-4.
Tommy Joseph hit a double in the bottom of the second to drive Odubel Herrera home for the first run of the night for the Phillies. The Phillies scored the remainder of the runs in the bottom of the seventh when, with the bases loaded, Nick Williams tripled — driving Andrew Knapp, Cameron Perkins and Cesar Hernandez to home plate.
At this point, the Phillies had only decreased the Astros’ lead to 12-4. Josh Reddick added one more home run to the Astros’ score, and the game ended quietly for the Phillies.
The Phillies lost the second game 5-0 with only four hits in the entire contest.
Aaron Nola pitched the third game and captured a victory.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Cameron Rupp hit a deep fly ball to right center field for his eighth home run of the season. He drove in Tommy Joseph as well to get the Phillies on the scoreboard 2-0.
Nick Williams hit a line drive single to right field to help Cesar Hernandez score and get Freddy Galvis to third base.
In the fifth inning, Maikel Franco hit his 15th homer of the season and Aaron Altherr scored, giving the Phillies a 5-0 lead heading into the sixth inning.
A double from Tommy Joseph to center field gave him two RBIs as Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr scored.
Cameron Rupp hit another homer to center field and Tommy Joseph found home plate. The Phillies defeated the Houston Astros 9-0 to close out the series.
Cameron Rupp also had a total of four RBIs for the game. Aaron Nola played six innings only allowing four hits and striking out 10.
The Phillies continue to show improvement as the season continues. Aaron Nola has definitely been the star pitcher for the Phillies for the past week, and the players continue to improve at the plate, with uneven but encouraging results.
Up next for the Phillies is a four-game series against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park starting Friday, July 28, and ending July 31. They last played the Braves at the beginning of June and they ended a series 2-2. Hopefully they will carry the momentum from winning against the Astros over to this series and continue to improve as a team.