Houston Astros Bludgeoned by Philadelphia Phillies Sluggers in Game 3

The Houston Astros were beaten by the long ball at Citizens Bank Park against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Author:
Ben Silver
Publish date:
Nov 2, 2022 12:44 PM EDT

In this story:

Houston Astros

The extra day of rest paid off for the Philadelphia Phillies. While the Houston Astros stuck to their guns, Philadelphia got to alter their rotation and sent Ranger Suárez to the mound to start World Series Game 3.

The five Philadelphia home runs were naturally the story of the night. But Suárez kept the Astros' offense in check too. Through five innings, he dominated, inducing soft-contact with pinpoint control.

The Astros only ever threatened on the Phillies' starter once. With two outs in the fifth, already down 5-0, Chas McCormick worked a walk before Martín Maldonado reached base with a single up the middle.

Then to the plate strode José Altuve... who promptly popped up in foul ground to Rhys Hoskins. The Astros never came close to scoring from that moment on.

Dusty Baker was quick to compliment the Phillies young lefty, but he also attributed some of his success to luck, "Well, he was mixing his changeup. He was effectively wild a little bit. He kept the ball inside sometimes on the right-hand hitters and then they got him out of there rather quickly."

On the other side of the coin, the Houston Astros' pitching staff was a mess. Lance McCullers Jr. was pegged for tipping his pitches. Whether or not he was, still remains up for debate, but what isn't up for debate are the hanging sliders he tossed down the heart of the plate.

The Phillies crushed him for five home runs and seven runs on just 4.2 innings pitched. Three of those homers came in the first two innings alone, and out of the gate the Astros were in a four-run hole.

During a regular season game that might not be cause for alarm, but Baker has caught a lot of flak for leaving his starter in to flounder.

"Well, the thought process was the fact that he had had two good innings, two real good innings, and then they hit a blooper, a homer, and then I couldn't get anybody loose. I mean, it was my decision," the consummate professional, Baker shouldered the blame after the loss.

But one has to wonder how differently things might have gone if the Astros' manager had brought in José Urquidy for the fifth inning, rather than the sixth.

In his first postseason outing, coming in for mop-up duty, Urquidy pitched 3.0 scoreless innings, saving the Astros' bullpen while striking out four.

The Astros are in a big hole now, down 2-1 with two games left at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The Phillies are undefeated at home this postseason, so the Astros will need to cut that streak short if they want any chance of returning home to Houston and Minute Maid Park this series.

For more on the Philadelphia Phillies, go check out our coverage over at Inside the Phillies!