Superb pitching propels red-hot Astros to near-shutout sweep of Phillies

HOUSTON -- For those wondering how the Astros keep defying the odds, how they continue to stack wins despite injuries and some key underperformances and how they’ve surged up the American League West standings, the blueprint lies in their three-game sweep of the Phillies.

The Astros scored only five runs in the series against the National League East-leading Phillies, but rode dominant starting pitching, airtight relief work and just enough clutch hits to a 2-1 win in Thursday's series finale at Daikin Park, where they’ve gone 30-13 this season.

“This team is going to fight you for 27 outs,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.

The Astros have won 12 of their last 15 games to improve to a season-high 15 games over .500 at 48-33 at the midpoint of their schedule, putting them on a 96-win pace. They are a Major League-best 17-6 in June and improved to 17-7 in one-run games.

“We’re playing great baseball on both sides of the ball,” said rookie right fielder Cam Smith, who roped an RBI single to left field with two outs in the eighth to score the go-ahead run. “Everybody’s doing their job, everybody’s doing what they can do to their best ability and letting the game speak for itself.”

The Astros won Tuesday’s series-opener, 1-0, behind seven scoreless innings from Framber Valdez and an eighth-inning homer from Cooper Hummel, who’s on his third organization this year. On Wednesday, they used five left-handed pitchers for the first time in their history to win, 2-0, on only five hits.

The Astros were five outs away from posting their third consecutive shutout win Thursday before Brandon Marsh lifted a sacrifice fly to right field in the eighth off reliever Bryan King to tie the game. Remarkably, the Astros held the Phillies scoreless for the first 25 innings of the series.

“That was an unbelievable series,” Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown said. “They’re a really good club and they've got a lot of really good players and I felt like we just kind of handled business. I felt like everybody’s execution was up. To hold a lineup like to one run over three games is awesome.”

Brown threw seven scoreless innings to lower his Major League-leading ERA to 1.74 with his 12th quality start of the season. He struck out nine batters, didn’t issue a walk and allowed three singles, but hasn’t won a game in his last four starts despite posting a 1.48 ERA in 24 1/3 innings.

“Obviously, the velo is there and he's got kind of a funky angle to him,” said Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, who was facing Brown for the first time. “A lot of Paul Skenes -- a little lower slot with more movement on the fastball. Hunter Brown has the sinker, which is good, but that four-seam and slider angle from where he throws the ball is pretty tough. He's got four really good pitches, maybe even five good pitches, and mixes all of them."

Since May 7, the Astros have lost only two of the combined 18 starts made by Valdez and Brown, but with seven starters on the injured list, rookies Colton Gordon, Ryan Gusto and Brandon Walter have delivered quality innings, with Lance McCullers Jr. pitching well before he landed back on the IL.

“I think you've got a bunch of guys that believe in one another,” Brown said. “I think the way that everybody goes about their preparation, when you start to see results through that preparation you know you can build some confidence in that. I think that’s what you’re seeing right now.”

The Astros were 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position in the series, including Smith’s two-out single that scored Isaac Paredes from second base to break a 1-1 tie. Smith’s emergence, breakout seasons from Jeremy Peña and Jake Meyers and Paredes’ steady bat have helped the club overcome the loss of slugger Yordan Alvarez to injury for nearly two months, as well as disappointing starts from Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz.

There’s a growing confidence, and maybe even a bit of magic, to this Astros team that it didn’t have last season, and as they begin to get healthier in the coming weeks, the blueprint to beat them will become even tougher.

“We do our work, we prepare ourselves, we prepare our players and our veterans do their part and they get their guys ready to play,” Espada said. “It’s contagious what happens when you walk in that clubhouse. This is what it takes to win.”