Taijuan Walker once again shelled in disastrous afternoon for Phillies

Final Score: Astros 10, Phillies 0

The Philadelphia Phillies had their four-game winning-streak snapped in brutal fashion Wednesday against the Houston Astros, with Taijuan Walker getting shelled, Yordan Álvarez homering three times and Spencer Arrighetti carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

With each passing inning that Walker remained on the mound for the Phillies, it became clear that manager Rob Thomson’s focus had shifted to a crucial four-game series with the Atlanta Braves this weekend. Two of three over the Astros would have to do.

Heck, it can be argued that the organization more or less punted on Wednesday’s game by having Walker take the ball at all. After he gave up eight hits and six earned runs over three innings last Friday in Kansas City — which caused his ERA to balloon to 6.26 — there was no reason to think things would go any differently the next start.

And they didn’t.

The only difference this time is that after the Astros hung five runs on Walker in the top of the fourth inning, Thomson had Walker remain in the game for two more frames. Walker actually managed to keep the Astros off the board over his final two innings of work, but he wouldn’t have remained on the mound after the fourth inning — and probably even for the entirety of that frame — if the Phillies thought that had a realistic chance to come back and win Wednesday’s matinee.

So Walker wore one for the Phillies. Across six innings of work, Walker allowed 13 hits and six earned runs, while walking one and not recording a single strikeout. After 14 starts this season, Walker has a 6.50 ERA. Even though he’s only in the second season of a four-year/$72 million deal, Wednesday feels like it has to have been it. We’ll see if it that actually proves to be the case.

While Arrighetti has promise, he entered the day with a 4.94 ERA over 23 starts in his rookie season. But it was clear early on that he was locked on Wednesday, with the Phillies not recording a hit against him until Austin Hays led the bottom of the eighth off with an infield single. Arrighetti ultimately struck out 11 batters and allowed just two hits over 7 2/3 shutout innings.

When you add in Álvarez’s three homers, the Astros handily stomped the Phillies Wednesday to avoid a sweep and improve to 71-62. With the loss, the Phillies fall to 78-55.

Highlights

• With two outs in the top of the first inning, Walker made a pickoff attempt of Houston shortstop Jeremy Peña at first base. Jose Altuve broke for the plate when Bryce Harper got lackadaisical at first base, successfully stealing home to give the Astros a 1-0 lead:

• Jake Meyers plated two with an RBI double in the top of the fourth inning, extending the Astros’ lead to 3-0:

• Mauricio Dubón scalded a ball to second base later in the fourth inning. Bryson Stott got a glove on the ball, but it was hit 97.5 mph and ultimately went into center field for an RBI single that scored Meyers:

• Two batters later, Yordan Álvarez hit a two-run, opposite-field home run, the final blow in a five-run fourth inning for the Astros:

• Álvarez launched his second homer of the day in the top of the second inning, a 433-foot shot off of Michael Mercado into the Phillies’ bullpen:

• Dubón made an insane catch against the wall to rob Brandon Marsh of the first hit of the day for the Phillies and end the bottom of the seventh:

• Millersville University product Chas McCormick came off the bench to hit for Altuve in the top of the seventh inning, and launched a two-run home run off of Mercado:

• Álvarez then completed the trifecta with his second homer in as many innings off of Mercado, and third in the game. It was Álvarez’s third career three-homer game:

• Hays legged out an infield single to get the Phillies in the hits column to lead off the bottom of the eighth.

Ticket IQ Next Game

• Thursday, Aug. 29 vs. Atlanta Braves
• 6:40 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, MLB Network (out-of-market only)
• Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
• Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680

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