Five runs. Three games. Zero wins.
Go ahead and read that again.
Because yes, the Phillies just got swept in Houston — despite allowing a total of five runs over 27 innings. According to MLB.com's Paul Casella, they’re now just the 10th team in Major League history to be swept in a series of any length while giving up five runs or fewer.
It was the kind of series that feels like a statistical prank. But there it was, ending Thursday night with a 2-1 loss that felt more like a slow leak than a collapse. The deciding blow? An eighth-inning RBI single by rookie Cam Smith. He lined a two-out slider from Orion Kerkering (5-3) into right field to give the Astros their fourth straight win.
And just like that, another quality pitching effort went quietly into the Texas night.
The Phillies had tied the game in the top of the eighth on a Brandon Marsh sacrifice fly, finally snapping a 26-inning scoreless streak that was starting to look like something out of a survival movie. Bryson Stott reached twice and scored the lone run. Rafael Marchán collected two of the Phillies’ four hits.
None of it was enough.
The Astros, meanwhile, made the most of the little they had. Yainer Díaz singled home a run in the second, and that was about it until Smith’s game-winner. But that’s all they needed, thanks to Hunter Brown, who kept the Phillies frozen for seven innings and lowered his MLB-best ERA to 1.74. He scattered three singles, struck out nine, and never allowed a runner to reach second base. If he broke a sweat, it didn’t show.
Meanwhile, Cristopher Sánchez continues to pitch like a guy who should be showing up in Cy Young conversations. He struck out 11 without a walk over six innings — his third straight walk-free start — and gave up just three hits. But for the third time in four starts, the Phillies failed to give him a win.
Bryan Abreu (3-3) cleaned up the eighth, then struck out the side in the ninth — Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm, and Nick Castellanos, in case you needed more reasons to exhale heavily through your nose.
So the Astros completed a sweep by scores of 1-0, 2-0, and 2-1, without a crooked number, and without much flash. Just precision, pitching, and the kind of quiet dominance that makes for brutal morning coffee in the Delaware Valley.
The Phillies head to Atlanta next for three with the Braves. Mick Abel (2-1, 3.47 ERA) gets the ball Friday against Bryce Elder (2-4, 4.77 ERA). Maybe, just maybe, the offense remembered to pack its luggage.
Because this week in Houston?
They didn’t just get swept.
They got shut out from the win column… by five runs.
Oh yeah, the Mets collected a win on Thursday and leapfrogged the Phillies in the NL East, so now Philly heads to Atlanta trailing by a half-game.
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