Aaron Nola was a bright light for the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night. The Houston Astros were unable to find the “on” switch.
Nola (12-6) pitched seven shutout innings, only allowing f0ur hits, as the Phillies shut down the Astros 5-0 at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia is in a solid position to finish off the series sweep on Wednesday. As for the Astros, hitting coach Alex Cintron might want to have a session with his hitters.
Houston Astros Missing Their Offense
The loss marks Houston’s sixth in its last eight games. While they have been on the losing end, the Houston Astros are still atop the American League West Division. The Seattle Mariners, though, have not been able to make up ground. Seattle’s been having their own problems with losses, too.
Astros starter Justin Verlander (3-4) went five innings, allowing four runs and seven hits, according to The Associated Press. Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos connected for a three-run homer in the third inning, part of a four-run inning. That was pretty much the ballgame right there.
Aaron Nola, Filthy 80mph Curveball. 😷 pic.twitter.com/UQUEtrOSBO
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 27, 2024
It appears that the Astros’ vaunted offense has taken a powder in these past few games. Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman have been hitting, but just coming up with singles. Altuve had two hits on Tuesday night, while Yordan Alvarez, Ben Gamel, Jake Meyers, and Mauricio Dubon added hits. Alvarez’s power game has not been evident, too. He recently missed some games due to neck stiffness.
Verlander made his first start on Tuesday night after being out since June. He, too, had been dealing with neck stiffness and elbow inflammation issues. In interviews ahead of his start, Verlander has been open about working on posture issues. The veteran pitcher, who will be getting into Cooperstown after he’s retired, shared his thoughts during ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast.
The Astros are now 70-62 overall while the Phillies go to 78-54. Right now, Houston could definitely use some help in its lineup.
Jason Heyward Might Join Astros
One issue that has been haunting the Houston Astros this season is their offensive output from outfielders. There has been a rotating door of players out there. Kyle Tucker’s outfield play and offense has been sorely missed.
Chas McCormick, who has been a key player in the Astros’ success in recent years, has not been effective. He’s hitting below .200. Now, it looks like McCormick might be headed out to the minor leagues.
The Astros reportedly are close to signing outfielder Jason Heyward, who was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Astros beat reporter Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported on Tuesday that a source told him a deal was imminent. No final word had been reached as of Tuesday night.
Heyward, 35, hit .208 with six homers and 28 RBIs in 63 games with the Dodgers this year. Should the Astros get a deal done with Heyward, look for McCormick to possibly head down to Triple-A Sugar Land. An unconfirmed report on X/Twitter said McCormick was heading down Highway 59 to Sugar Land. But the ballclub did not have any word about his status as of Tuesday night.
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