Astros Stun Phils; Win, 6-4.

Final: Phillies 4, Astros 6.

WP: Wesley Wright (1-2, 3.33 ERA) LP: Phillippe Aumont (0-1, 3.00 ERA) SV: Wilton Lopez (5)

When you come into Houston to play the last-place Astros of the NL Central, you would hope that the surging Phillies would not struggle. Well, tonight's game left poor vibes for the remaining three games of this crucial series. The Phillies took an early, satisfying 4-0 lead after the top of the third, scoring their runs thanks to the RBI from Erik Kratz in the top of the second (double, 9), and RBIs an inning later from Ryan Howard (sacrifice fly), John Mayberry (single), and Kevin Frandsen (single).

Tyler Cloyd, pitching on short rest, was taken out of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning after allowing a three-run home run to Matt Dominguez. He allowed a total of three runs in three innings pitched, while striking out four batters on 65 total pitches (43 for strikes).

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins swiped his 400th career stolen base tonight.

Everything unraveled for the Phillies in the 8th inning, as the Astros scored three runs to take the lead. While the Phillies played the "spoiler" role for a good part of the month of August and early September, the Astros defeating the Phils tonight definitely left a brutal dagger in the current playoff chase.

Lefty ace Cole Hamels (14-6) starts tomorrow evening for the Philadelphia Phillies, as they make one last push for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. Cole is (3-3) with a 5.02 ERA in 57.1 career innings against Houston, and his last start came against them exactly a year ago today, on September 13, 2011. He lasted just five innings that game and received the loss, allowing four earned runs over nine hits and one walk.

The game will start at 8:05 pm EST, and can be seen on CSN and heard on 1210 WPHT AM & 94 WIP FM.

Attendance: 13,028.

Starting Pitching Summary:

Lucas Harrell: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR, 3.86 ERA
Tyler Cloyd*: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 4.95 ERA

* Failed to retire a batter in the bottom of the fourth inning.

In the 'Pen:

Philadelphia

B.J. Rosenberg (4th, 5th): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 9.60 ERA
Josh Lindblom (6th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 3.36 ERA
Antonio Bastardo (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.47 ERA
Phillippe Aumont (8th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.00 ERA
Jake Diekman (8th): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.76 ERA

Houston

Xavier Cedeno (6th, 7th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA
Hector Ambriz (7th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 5.59 ERA
Wesley Wright (8th): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.33 ERA
Wilton Lopez (9th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.30 ERA

Scoring Summary:

Top of the 2nd (Phillies 1, Astros 0): Erik Kratz doubles (9) on a fly ball to left fielder Fernando Martinez. Domonic Brown scores.
Top of the 3rd (Phillies 2, Astros 0): Ryan Howard out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Justin Maxwell. Juan Pierre scores.
Top of the 3rd (Phillies 3, Astros 0): John Mayberry singles on a fly ball to right fielder Jimmy Paredes. Chase Utley scores.
Top of the 3rd (Phillies 4, Astros 0): Kevin Frandsen singles on a ground ball to shortstop Tyler Greene. John Mayberry scores.
Bottom of the 4th (Phillies 4, Astros 3): Matt Dominguez homers (4) on a fly ball to left field. Justin Maxwell and Jason Castro score.
Bottom of the 8th (Phillies 4, Astros 5): Jed Lowrie doubles (17) on a fly ball to center fielder John Mayberry. Matt Dominguez scores.
Bottom of the 8th (Phillies 4, Astros 6): Brandon Barnes singles on a ground ball to center fielder John Mayberry. Jed Lowrie scores.