Cam Smith’s 20th Homer in the Ninth Sinks Phillies as Astros Tighten AL West Grip

Rookie outfielder Cam Smith delivered the decisive blow Thursday night, drilling a first-pitch splitter from Phillies closer Jhoan Duran over the right-center field wall at Citizens Bank Park to give the Houston Astros a 2-1 victory. It was Smith’s 20th home run of the season and his second in as many days, following a long ball off Cristopher Sánchez in Wednesday’s 11-7 loss.

Josh Hader sealed the win in the bottom of the ninth, retiring Edmundo Sosa, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner in order. The Astros moved to 75-72 and now lead the American League West by 2.5 games over Texas, pending the Rangers’ result against Seattle.

Houston starter Cristian Javier carried a no-hitter into the fifth before Luis Arraez opened the inning with a single. Alec Bohm doubled, and Bryson Stott’s groundout brought home Arraez to even the score. Taylor Trammell had given the Astros their first run with an RBI double in the second. Javier allowed one run on three hits over six innings, striking out five and walking one on 79 pitches. Bennett Sousa, Bryan Abreu and Hader each tossed a scoreless frame, and Philadelphia never advanced a runner past first base outside the fifth.

The loss dropped Philadelphia to 82-65, four games behind Atlanta (86-61), which beat Tampa Bay 3-1 earlier Thursday. The Braves are a publicly traded club under Atlanta Braves Holdings (BATRK), whose shares closed at $49.46, down 0.74% from the prior close of $49.83, valuing the company at roughly $3.24 billion.

Despite the deficit in the division race, the Phillies remain in position for the NL’s top wild-card spot with 15 games to play — 2.5 games clear of the Cubs and six ahead of the Padres. Philadelphia now heads to Truist Park for a pivotal three-game set in Atlanta, with Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.76 ERA) opposing Chris Sale (14-9, 2.10) on Friday, Jesús Luzardo (14-5, 2.87) against Tyler Mahle (5-10, 4.05) on Saturday, and Andrew Painter (3-9, 5.71) meeting Grant Holmes (9-5, 3.46) on Sunday. Houston closes its road trip with a series at AL-leading Tampa Bay (87-59).

What to watch

• The Phillies-Braves series in Atlanta, which could reshape both the NL East race and wild-card seeding.
• Whether Texas closes the gap in the AL West over the final stretch of the regular season.
• For investors tracking the Braves’ parent company, BATRK’s next quarterly report for updates on baseball and mixed-use development segment performance.

Source: original release