Series recap: Phillies take 2 of 3 from Astros, punt finale with another brutal Taijuan Walker start

The Phillies won their second straight series to open up a big homestand, but it hardly felt that way after Wednesday's meltdown to the Astros in the finale. 

The Phils gutted out a clutch 3-2 win on Monday night with a Bryce Harper walk-off in extras, cruised to a 5-0 shutout on the back of Aaron Nola with his best stuff and Nick Castellanos on a hot streak at the plate on Tuesday, but then handed the ball to Taijuan Walker, which went as far south as anyone could've expected. 

Houston blew them out, 10-0. But hey, Austin Hays hit an infield single to save them from being no-hit by Spencer Arrighetti. 

The Phillies looked like they were back, and then completely gone again. The Braves are on deck for a crucial four-game set beginning Thursday. Here's a recap of all the good, bad, and downright ugly leading into it...

Gut it out

It's been tough sledding for the Phils in the back half of the season so far, but Monday night's opener felt like the kind of drag-out battle that turns everything around again. 

Zack Wheeler gave them six strong innings to keep them in it, and then Orion Kerkering, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estévez, and Matt Strahm held the line out of the bullpen.

Brandon Marsh hit a crucial homer, Johan Rojas made a game-saving catch, and Bryce Harper? He did what every club needs their best player to do and stepped up big time in the clutch. 

He stretched a single into a double to lead off the sixth, took off for third on a ground ball placed right in front of him, and then scored on a loop single into center from Nick Castellanos – who has quietly been the model of consistency with hits in 12 of his last 14 games by that point – to tie it, 2-2. 

In extras, Harper snagged a tricky ground ball down the first-base line from Yordan Alvarez to hold the ghost runner up at third and get the second out of the frame, setting the stage for Rojas' catch and then...

His own look to walk it off.

And with the perspective from a fellow MVP:

Was it pretty? No. Was it stress-free? Absolutely not. 

But kicking off a potentially pivotal homestand late into August – after a rough road trip that was at least salvaged by the outburst over the Royals – it set a tone. 

These Phillies are going to find a way. 

"We got a win, that's about it," Harper said postgame. "Just go out there and win games."

Shut 'em down

The next night, Aaron Nola followed up with his best in a while, tossing seven shutout innings for the first time he's gone that deep into a game since a June 24 win over Detroit. 

He punched out the Astros six times and held them to four hits and a walk, retiring nine straight batters by the time he was done and needing only nine pitches to get out of his last frame. 

Rob Thomson said afterward that Nola's cap was at 105 pitches. He set the Astros down in 102 and handed the bullpen a clear runway toward clinching the series.

"He really attacked, and his curveball was really good," the Phillies' manager said afterward. 

As for at the plate: Castellanos, model of consistency. 

Make it 13 hits in his last 15 games with that golf swing of a three-run shot, and a far cry from his free-swinging, early-season struggles that plagued him while the rest of the club was firing on all cylinders. 

"Casty, he's always working," Nola said in the clubhouse postgame. "He's always hitting. To me, he's taking really good at-bats is what I see and, you know, once Casty gets hot, he gets hot. We've all seen that."

"I'm doing the best I can, man," Castellanos said a bit later. "I think that just the consistency of just my work and stuff has been putting me continuously in a good spot, and then just trying to do less on most because of the way the game is attacking me. I don't know if it's still, but a couple weeks ago, I think I saw more off-speed pitches than anybody in baseball – I don't know if it's still the same...but, you know, just taking what the game gives me, right?"

And that's helped to keep the Phillies afloat coming back from the All-Star break while other key bats have gone through various recent downswings.

Since the break, in fact, Castellanos was slashing .296/.340/.504 with five homers, 11 doubles, and 24 runs knocked in entering Wednesday's series finale. He did go 0-for-3 with two strikeouts on Wednesday though. Granted, no one was hitting on Wednesday.

But imagine that from back in May, when it felt like he was whiffing on any and every breaking ball thrown his way. 

"I trust him," Thomson said. "I know he can hit. It'd be one thing if he didn't work at it and show me that he didn't care, but he cares and works at it. I know that there are times when he doesn't look good, but there are times when everybody doesn't look good."

He's looked good now though, and within a stretch where the Phillies really needed him to.

"He really works at it," Thomson continued. "I'm happy for him that he's had this turnaround."

Then...punt...

Thomson gave Taijuan Walker another turn in the rotation for Wednesday's finale, even though he had understandable grounds not to. 

And Walker just got shelled again, which pretty much punted away Game 3.

The struggling right-hander got tagged for five runs in fourth – off back-to-back doubles from Ben Gamel and Jake Meyers, an RBI single from Mauricio Dubón that deflected hard off of Bryson Stott's glove at second, and then a two-run shot from Alvarez that sent a wave of boos Walker's way, followed by a brutal facing of the Citizens Bank Park crowd on the walk back to the dugout once he finally did get out of the inning. 

Walker struggled to get above the low 90s with his fastball, and although the damage he was responsible for was mostly contained to the fourth (save for Jose Altuve's steal of home on a pick-off to open up), he still got knocked for 13 hits and a walk in total. He went on to survive six innings, but struck no one out, and Michael Mercado wasn't about to salvage anything once he took over. 

Look, since Walker came back from the Injured List, him on the mound just hasn't been pretty, and even going back further than that. 

He hadn't stretched past 4.2 innings in his prior three starts since returning, finally got through six for the first time since the end of May (though that hardly felt like a positive), and only lasted three in his last go against Kansas City after he got crushed for six earned runs in that one, too. 

Many would've yanked him from the order after the Royals game. Thomson didn't, and credit where credit is due for giving Walker considerable time and opportunity to try and work out of it...

But he hasn't, and it doesn't seem wise to afford Walker any more live innings as the push toward the playoffs really starts to pick up. 

The last time Walker earned a winning decision was May 11. The last time the Phillies won a game he started was May 22. His turns on the mound have practically become "scheduled losses" since, and the Phillies can't have any time for those this late into the game and entering the season's final month. 

"We gotta talk about it," Thomson said after Wednesday's loss about Walker's spot in the rotation and where the Phillies go with it from here.

Whether they would let Walker continue to start, possibly move him into the bullpen, or go another route entirely, Thomson kept his answers short and non-committal. 

But they'll have to figure something out over the next few days.

Line up your best (again)

Giving Walker the start on Wednesday did come with the catch, however, of swapping him out with Cristopher Sánchez to begin the four-game set against the Braves on Thursday. 

So that will line up Sánchez, Ranger Suárez, Wheeler, and then Nola, 4-1, for another crucial series in the NL East race, much like how the last go-around a week ago down in Atlanta rolled out the top of the Phillies' rotation. 

They dropped two of three for that series. They were still holding a six-game lead over the Braves in the division entering Wednesday, but this weekend presents a massive swing in the picture for both clubs. 

The Phillies need to bring everything they have. 

Odds and ends

• Bohm's RBI double in the seventh on Tuesday night to make it 5-0, Phils:

Three guys all losing their read of a fly ball. Baseball is beautiful. Take those runs however they come.

• Altuve got booed relentlessly all series, and no, it wasn't about the World Series. (Hint: it's the reason why Estévez is checking the PitchCom inside his hat in the clip below.)

Just "a piece of metal," right?