HOUSTON — In a tightly contested game on Tuesday night, Cooper Hummel’s solo home run in the eighth inning propelled the Houston Astros to a narrow 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The game was characterized by dominant pitching performances from Houston’s Framber Valdez and his relievers, who combined to allow only four hits.
The decisive moment came when Hummel, with one out in the eighth, hit an opposing direction shot off Phillies’ pitcher Ranger Suárez, sending the ball into the bullpen area in right-center field. This pivotal hit marked Hummel’s second home run since he was called up from Triple-A Sugar Land on June 14.
Valdez had an impressive night, scattering four hits across seven scoreless innings before handing over to the bullpen. Bryan Abreu took over in the eighth inning, striking out one batter, and Josh Hader sealed the win in the ninth with two strikeouts, earning him his 20th save of the season.
The Phillies threatened to score in the sixth inning when J.T. Realmuto reached base following a throwing error by Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes. Realmuto successfully stole second base, and after Valdez issued a walk to Otto Kemp, Philadelphia seemed poised to break the deadlock. However, Edmundo Sosa grounded into a double play, extinguishing the Phillies’ hopes.
Houston’s offense stirred in their sixth inning when Yainer Diaz and Hummel hit back-to-back singles. Despite advancing to third following a double play by Mauricio Dubón, Diaz remained stranded as Suárez walked Jeremy Peña and struck out Isaac Paredes to navigate out of trouble.
Suárez completed his night with an impressive line, surrendering one run on four hits while recording seven strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings. Notably, he stands as the first Philadelphia pitcher since Aaron Harang in 2015 to achieve nine consecutive quality starts in his initial 10 games of a season, according to statistics from the Elias Sports Bureau.
The series continues on Wednesday night with Philadelphia’s right-hander Zack Wheeler (7-2, 2.81 ERA) slated to face off against Houston’s left-hander Colton Gordon (2-1, 4.54 ERA).