Andrew Painter Struggles And Offensive Comeback Falls Short As Phillies Drop Series Opener To Astros
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter adjusts his hat during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Philadelphia. Matt Slocum - AP
The Philadelphia Phillies entered this midweek series against the Houston Astros with a major opportunity against a middle-of-the-pack team to gain ground in both the Wild Card and Division race. An opportunity made even more present as the Atlanta Braves battle one of the best teams in the American League this week, the Tampa Bay Rays.
Unfortunately for the Phillies in the Monday night opener, nothing went right. Andrew Painter struggled, and the offense could not perform late-game heroics as they have of late. While games like Monday, when it just wasn’t Philadelphia’s night, happen throughout the course of a season, those types of games cannot happen in September when every game matters as you fight for important playoff seeding.
The struggles began with Andrew Painter. After a career month in August where he solidified himself as a Major League starter, posting a 3.95 ERA in 27.1 innings pitched, Painter’s status became cemented as he began the month of September throwing one of his best career games, seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits while striking out six against the Diamondbacks.
However, against the Astros, a lineup that is not much better than Arizona, Painter struggled mightily. The issue was quite simple: he did not have good command all evening long. In the Arizona game, Painter’s command was phenomenal: painting his fastball, the sweeper hitting its spots, the offspeed doing damage, but Monday against Houston, that was not the case, especially when it came to his sweeper command.
The sweeper was easily Painter’s worst pitch Monday night; most of the time it was either well outside the zone or in a spot down the middle that could be decimated. Multiple times the Astros took advantage of it, smacking two home runs and totaling five runs off Painter through five innings.
After a successful first inning, though one where most of the at-bats were battles, issues became worse and clearer in the second. Daulton Varsho ripped a 95 mph four-seamer for a lead-off double, followed by a single from Yainer Diaz, and then a brutalized sinker that first baseman Christian Walker sent 440 ft into left-center gave Houston an early 3-0 lead.
The inning issues continued as, after finally getting the first out on a strikeout, Cam Smith walked on four pitches and then scored the next at-bat on a 107 mph double off the bat of Jeremy Pena down the left-field line.
While Painter finally got out of the inning, striking out Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes, the damage was done. It did not get much better, as after a scoreless but long third inning, a leadoff home run to Cam Smith in the fourth extended the Astros’ lead. Smith’s homer came off easily the worst pitch of the night from Painter, a sweeper called to go low outside that sat right at Smith’s belt buckle down the middle and was sent 418 feet into left.
Painter’s night came to an end after the fifth, finishing the night with a grueling line of five innings pitched, 10 hits allowed and two walks while allowing five runs. He did strike out six batters, so while that is certainly a positive, it got majorly overshadowed by his struggles.
The offense had an up-and-down night, struggling against the opposing starting pitcher for the second consecutive day. On Monday, Grant Holmes of the Braves threw six shutout innings, and Tuesday, Astros starter Hayden Wesneski threw five shutout innings and was dominant in those five.
However, when he came out for the sixth, things changed. Justin Crawford began the rally with a double, scored the next at-bat off a Kyle Schwarber single. Trea Turner dug in next and kept the line moving with a two-run blast to left for his first home run since August 8.
What began as a distant 5-0 deficit where nothing was going the Phillies’ way all of a sudden flipped into a close, competitive ballgame with momentum on their side. Unfortunately, that momentum came and went in an instant.
Brooks Raley came on for the seventh inning but gave up a solo blast from Daulton Varsho that extended Houston’s lead to 6-3. The Phillies would tack on another run in their half of the seventh, as Alec Bohm led off with a double that put him in scoring position, and then Brandon Marsh scored him with a double of his own to make it a two-run game again.
The offense continued to fight come the ninth as Bryson Stott battled against Josh Hader to lead off the inning with a single. Edmundo Sosa then snapped a 21-straight-appearance scoreless streak against Hader with a double to right field, scoring Stott to make it a one-run game.
However, after allowing the quick run, Hader locked down, sending the next three batters to close out the ballgame, defeating the Phillies 6-5 and improving Houston to 64-0 this season when leading after eight innings.
Christopher DeMaio
Christopher DeMaio is a Delaware County Native, graduate of Devon Preparatory School (class of 2025). He is currently attending Franciscan University and is in his sophomore year. Chris, growing up playing baseball since the age of 4, fell in love with his hometown Phillies and continues that love by listening to sports radio, reading articles, and writing for the Philly Sports Reports Phillies team.
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