Wheeler dazzles, but Phils shut out again by Astros

HOUSTON -- One night after Ranger Suárez took a tough-luck loss despite allowing only one run, Phillies ace Zack Wheeler turned in a one-run outing of his own on Wednesday at Daikin Park.

But like Suárez, Wheeler took the loss.

The Astros added a late insurance run and handed the Phillies a 2-0 defeat. It's the first time the Phils have been shut out in back-to-back games since Aug. 13-14, 2022 -- and the first time they've lost consecutive games either 1-0 or 2-0 since April 19-20, 1996.

The Phillies appeared to be on the verge of snapping their scoreless streak in the eighth inning, when Brandon Marsh and Trea Turner hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with one out. Kyle Schwarber followed with a high chopper that was snared by leaping first baseman Christian Walker, who initially looked home as Marsh froze just a bit down the line.

"He did the right thing," manager Rob Thomson said of Marsh's decision not to go home. " ... I don't think he thought the ball was that high that [Walker] had to leave his feet, so he stayed right there."

Once Walker looked Marsh back to third, he turned toward second before ultimately deciding to scramble for first. By that time, Schwarber easily beat Walker to the bag for his second infield single of the game.

That loaded the bases with one out for Philadelphia's Nos. 3 and 4 hitters. Alec Bohm battled before striking out on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Nick Castellanos followed with an inning-ending groundout.

"We were fortunate, because Schwarber got to first base," Thomson said. "But we didn't do anything after that."

Schwarber, meanwhile, took the blame for not getting the job done.

"That's not what I'm looking to do there in that situation -- top a ball," Schwarber said. "I've got to elevate a pitch, but I got on top of it. ... I know it's a pitch I'm able to handle and get in the air."

Like Tuesday when the Phillies left nine runners on base, the eighth inning wasn't the Phillies' only scoring chance on Wednesday. They also had two on with only one out in the fifth before Astros rookie Colton Gordon -- making just his eighth career start -- struck out Marsh and Turner to end the threat.

"We're putting ourselves in position to score runs," Schwarber said. "The execution part is just not there right now."

The Phillies went down in order in the ninth to extend their scoreless streak to 19 innings.

Over their past 21 games, the Phillies have lost five in which their pitching staff allowed two runs or fewer. That includes each of the first two games in Houston, with Suárez and Wheeler combining for two runs allowed, 15 strikeouts, 13 2/3 innings ... and two losses.

"Unfortunately, you hate that this is part of the game because you want to win the game so much, especially when you get performances like that from those guys," Schwarber said. "But at the end of the day, you've just got to keep going to the plate and keep doing our thing."

The Phillies are now 11-12 without Bryce Harper, who appears to be inching closer to a return.

"It hurts not having Bryce, but you've got to overcome it," Thomson said. "And we've done that."

To that point, the Phillies have averaged six runs per game in those 11 wins without Harper. That includes series wins over the Mets, Cubs and Blue Jays without their two-time MVP. At the same time, the Phils have averaged only 2.6 runs in the 12 losses, which include sweeps at the hands of the Brewers and last-place Pirates.

That type of offensive inconsistency is something the Phillies dealt with earlier in the season, even prior to Harper's injury.

"I think it'll even itself out, I really do," Thomson said. "Baseball is a funny game; weird things happen. We've just got to settle down, believe in ourselves, don't try to do too much."

The Phillies (47-33) remain a half-game ahead of the Mets (47-34) in the NL East heading into Thursday's series finale against the first-place Astros, where the Phils will look to avoid being shut out in three straight games for the first time in 15 years.

But things won’t get any easier once they leave Houston. After this weekend's matchup with the rival Braves, the Phillies' first-half schedule concludes with series against the Padres (44-36), Reds (42-39), Giants (44-35) and Padres (again).

"We're just going through a little spell here," Thomson said. "We'll come out of it."