Walker was replaced by Michael Mercado to start the 7th; his final line was 13 H 6 R (all earned), 1 BB and 0 K. Mercado, making his first appearance since being recalled from AAA, allowed a homer to Alvarez and accidentally hit Alex Bregman in the helmet with a cutter. After that he settled in and allowed no more runs, striking out 2.
The no-hitter continued through the 7th, as Dubón made a leaping catch against the wall to rob Marsh of a hit and keep the Phillies and their fans in a state of deprivation.
The top 8th saw back to back homers from Chas McCormick and Alvarez, bringing the score to 10-0, giving Alvarez his 3rd homer of the day, and chasing Mercado. Max Lazar ended the inning without further incident.
The top 8th saw, at long last, a measure of redemption: Austin Hays slapped a chopper to short that ended up just deep enough to allow him to reach safely, ending the no-hitter. And they didn’t have to wait long for the next; Trea Turner lined one to center when he had his turn, though the Phillies remained scoreless through the end of the frame.
The Phillies turned to Weston Wilson to toss the eephuses and spare the bullpen; he allowed a base runner and no runs. The bottom 9th saw Alec Bohm single, and all else was quiet.
The Phillies are 78-55. They take the series against Houston 2-1, and will return to action tomorrow at 6:40 PM as a 4-game series against Atlanta begins.
You take your joy where you can get it. Sometimes you get the jubilation of a walk off from your superstar. Sometimes all the happiness you can muster is the relief of a single infield chopper ending the threat of a no-hitter. So it goes.
Jose Altuve, once again warmly welcomed by an appreciative Citizens Bank Park crowd, doubled to start the game off, advancing to third via Jeremy Peña grounding into a force out. Taijuan Walker tried to pick off Peña, which Altuve used as an opportunity to steal home and score the game’s first run.
The Phillies went down in order in the 1st at the hands of Spencer Arrighetti; the secondsaw Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh work a pair of two-out walks that came to naught.
The 4th saw things get weird again: Ben Gamel appeared to homer with Victor Caratini on base, but a review showed that the ball had been interfered with by a fan, and would have stayed in play otherwise. The overturned play resulted in Gamel and Caratini remaining on the basepaths, where they were promptly scored by a double from Jake Meyers. Meyers himself scored when a ball hit by Mauricio Dubón bounced off of Stott and into the outfield; Dubón scored when Yordan Alvarez hit an opposite-field homer. The inning ended with the Astros up 6-0.
Walker came out again for the 5th, with the game well out of hand. He navigated an scoreless inning, allowing one base runner but quickly sending him down with the double play.
As the bottom of the 5th arrived, the Philadelphia nine still didn’t have a hit to their name. And as the bottom of the 6th arrived, the same could still be said. A sharp liner from Garrett Stubbs couldn’t get the Phillies a notch in the H column. Kyle Schwarber and Harper became baserunners via the BB, but nobody came to join them.
Phillies outfielder Austin Hays broke up the no-hitter, sparing the Phils from further humiliation.
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