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No need to freak-out about Adley Rutschman missing last night’s game, the second game in a row he’s missed: it was a scheduled night-off and the team plans on getting him back into the lineup tomorrow. He did, however, receive a cortisone injection for his balky elbow, but the team says you shouldn’t freak out about that either. “It wasn’t an injection like, ‘Oh, something went wrong.’” said Chad Tracy. “It was an injection that was like, ‘We got him through with the days off [earlier].’ And looking at, as we came home, we knew he was going to be out on Tuesday anyway. And timing-wise, we were looking for a window to do that — to get him over the hump.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

So it’s great that they’re not giving something went wrong injections to Adley, who isn’t the only player who missed last night’s game with a sore body part. Eli White was also out of the lineup after crashing into the centerfield fence attempting to make a catch on Tuesday night. “He’s sore, very sore,” said Tracy. “His foot jammed into that garage door when he went up (to attempt to make the catch) and that foot shoved into (the door). He’s out. He’s going to go through some imaging today — maybe tonight or maybe (Thursday) morning, just to see exactly what’s going on there.” (Sean McAdam, MassLive)

The Sox can afford to give a few days off to Rutschman. And, thankfully, the cavalry is coming. Ceddanne Rafaela is expected to come off the IL on Tuesday, while Willson Contreras will play in a minor league rehab game this weekend with Portland. “He just wants to get on his feet,” Tracy said. “He’s been down for a while, and just to get on his feet and actually see some pitching, move around at first base, maybe get on base.”

If Rutschman does miss any more time, at least the Sox have the resurgent bat of Mickey Gasper to slot into the lineup. Gasper’s unprecedented late-season hot streak is one of the coolest stories of the year. What kind of outlook has led to it? “I would describe it as almost delusional. Seriously,” said Steve Lomasney, who coached Gasper as a high schooler. “You have to be that way: ‘I’m going to compete as hard as I possibly can, and I’m never going to lose because my work ethic is going to be better than the other guys.’ And that’s how Mickey approaches things.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

Sonny Grey’s success this year hasn’t completely come out of nowhere the way Gasper has, but it is noteworthy that he’s having arguably the best season of his career at age 36. But perhaps it’s not all that surprising. “Gray is renowned for his meticulous work between starts — the precision with which he practices his delivery, the journaling he does about every facet of each workday, the care he puts into what he eats, the commitment to preparation.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

Roman Anthony is at the complete opposite end of the career spectrum as Gray. As such, he’s still working out the mental aspect of the game. Mired in a mini slump recently, he tried to reframe approach at the plate heading into last night’s game. “Just gotta get back to that leadoff mentality role,” Anthony said. “I think the swings sometimes get a little bit hard and maybe try to do too much at times. So for me, just a constant work in progress to get back into that leadoff hitter mode and get back to playing the brand of baseball that we know how to play best and just pass it on to the next guy.” (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Here's the latest on some of the Mets top prospects who are playing in the minor leagues...

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Jefferson Rojasstayed hot, going 2-for-4 at Double-A Binghamton in their 5-2 win over the Portland Sea Dogs.

Rojas notched his first hit on a fly ball to right field in the third inning before smacking a double to left field in the sixth inning. 

Since being acquired from the Cubs in the trade deadline deal that sent Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to Chicago, Rojas has been on fire. In 130 plate appearances over 28 games for Binghamton, the 21-year-old is slashing .283/.341/.602 (.943 OPS) with nine homers, seven doubles, one triple, 23 runs scored, and 29 RBI.

With Binghamton's season ending this weekend, it's possible Rojas is promoted to Triple-A Syracuse for the final week of their campaign. 

***

Jonathan Santuccicontinued his string of sharp starts for Syracuse, allowing one run on five hits over five innings while walking none and striking out six.

Santucci, who profiles as a potential mid-rotation starter at the next level, figures to make his big league debut during the 2027 season.

***

Billy Amick went 1-for-4 for Syracuse while Emilien Pitre went 0-for-4 with a walk and run scored.

Jefry Yan made his first appearance since being sent down, giving up one hit, one walk, and striking out one in one-third of an inning. 

Well. Another pathetic showing from a St. Louis Cardinals bullpen resulted in a series sweep against a mediocre opponent. This team has constantly shown it plays to the level of their competition, but the series against the Giants went too far.

After winning five of their last six series on the road, including taking the season series against the Dodgers, the Cardinals had momentum against the miserable Giants only to see the season pretty much come to an end in San Francisco. To get over the emotions this three-game set made me feel, I dusted off the podcast equipment and finally recorded a new episode of Cardinals on My Time.

Joining me on the episode was returning guest Matt Blaker, and nothing against Matt, but I was pumped to have Tanner Larkins joining the pod as well. Chances are, you have no idea who that is and I just came across his profile earlier this week. Tanner is the front man for a band called Bayview Lane and his two singles instantly caught my attention. Add on the fact he was rocking a Cardinals hat in his videos while being from the Chicago area like me, he was the perfect guest to have on with Matt and me.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Cardinals bullpen failure was the plan all along for Chaim Bloom

In the episode, we talked about the rollercoaster ride of the season, roster management, but also focused on the future. To me, the most frustrating point of this season was the roster management, be it playing short-handed through injuries or with a seemingly always “taxed” bullpen. The bullpen conversation was made worse after this series, but the problems revert all the way back to the offseason despite the early season success and breakout of certain guys.

One thing we talked about was that this bullpen creation, or lack thereof, was done intentionally. That is one of the more upsetting things to me (and keep your “this is a rebuild” comments to yourself) because this was a clear hole all year. Of course, bullpens are a crapshoot every year, but you’re telling me adding another one or two higher profile relievers would prevent the rebuild from happening? Worst case scenario, you pull the plug on those arms in a season that doesn’t matter, middle case, you flip them at the deadline, best case, you’re actually competing for a playoff spot instead of blowing 37 leads.

We finished the episode by comparing the Cardinals to the White Sox, who are competing for a division title despite losing 100 games back-to-back seasons. With that, I brought up the question for how aggressive Bloom needs to be in 2027 (yes there will be a season) to make sure the team capitalizes on their young players’ primes.

The series against the Giants was the final nail in the coffin, but I will still be interested in seeing what guys like Leo Bernal and Joshua Baez can do, or if Thomas Saggese can fix the hole at third base. I would like to see some more of the young arms get a shot in the last couple weeks so I will still be connected on a near-daily basis.

It was good to get back on the podcast train and I hope to get back on it more consistently here soon. (Great timing, Scott, since the season is over). If you enjoy the show or the content, please give me a subscribe on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts and join me over on Twitter.

Finally, please give Tanner some love on his new music linked below. If you’re in the Chicago/Milwaukee area, make sure you take a look at Tanner’s schedule to see him play some live shows!

Thanks as always!

It’s been over a month since the trade deadline came and went and we’re still getting information on a trade that never actually happened. The Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers were very close to getting a deal done that would bring Jacob deGrom to Atlanta but until today, we didn’t know who or what Atlanta would be sending in return. The deal got close enough to where it came down to deGrom making a decision with his no-trade clause and that’s why he’s still in Texas, so we know that the Braves had agreed to trade someone away.

It appears that one of the “who’s” might’ve been Spencer Strider. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com wrote an article about players across baseball who could be on the move via trade in the offseason and one of the names that came up was Strider. Feinsand wasted no time in sharing the details from the trade that never was:

The Braves discussed sending Strider to Texas in a contract swap trade for Jacob deGrom before the Trade Deadline, and although deGrom blocked the deal with his no-trade clause, it’s clear that Atlanta is open to moving its former ace.

Feinsand also noted that while the Braves are holding out hope that Strider could help out in the Postseason coming out of the bullpen, they are also keeping their options open and could be trying to find a suitor who believes that they can get Strider back to where he was before while taking some talent for their farm system as well.

Either way, it’s definitely intriguing to see that this is where the Braves are at with Strider at this point. If you woke up from a coma in 2022 to learn that the Braves could be shopping Spencer Strider around, you might’ve figured that it was because his contract demands were too large since he had become such a dominant force on the mound. Instead, Strider has struggled with injuries and inconsistent performances when healthy and the outlook has changed significantly for Strider.

Again, there’s always the possibility that Strider can figure it out and that he’ll continue to prove to be an effective pitcher for the Braves (whether it’s in the rotation or as a reliever) but assuming Feinsand’s reporting is accurate, Atlanta clearly no longer views Spencer Strider as being untouchable. We’ll see what happens going forward and we’ll also see if we keep on getting more information about this aborted Jacob deGrom trade with each passing month.

TODAY’S GAME: The Houston Astros (74-72) and Philadelphia Phillies (82-64) will play the rubber match of this series this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

RHP Cristian Javier (2-5, 5.98 ERA) will start for the Astros vs. Phils RHP Zack Wheeler (12-5, 3.23 ERA).

REMATCH: RHP Cristian Javier faced off against RHP Zack Wheeler in his only career regular season start/app. vs. PHI, which came on April 29, 2023 in Houston. He took the loss in a 6-1 Astros defeat.

ASTROS-PHILS: The Astros have won 5 of their last 6 games vs. the Phillies. In those 6 games, Astros starters have combined for a 1.67 ERA (7ER/37.2IP). 3 of those 5 wins came via a shutout. HOU swept a 3-game series vs. PHI at Daikin Park in the last meeting between the 2 clubs, June 24-26 of 2025. In those 3 games, Astros pitchers allowed just 1 run in 27.0 IP.

Last Visit to CPB: The Phils took 2 of 3 from HOU in the last series here in Philly, Aug. 26-28 of 2024. In the final game of that series, Yordan Alvarez went 4×4 with 3 HR in a 10-0 Astros win.

Postseason History: The Astros and Phils have met twice in the postseason, with PHI taking the 1980 NLCS and the Astros winning the 2022 World Series.

MR. CRISTIAN: RHP Cristian Javier is making his 10th start and 15th appearance of the season this afternoon. He pitched well in his last start on Sept. 4 vs. ARI, allowing just 1 run and 1 hit in 5.0 IP with 8 strikeouts in a 3-1 Astros win.

Racking Up The K’s: In his last 4 starts, Javier has tallied 25 strikeouts in 17.1 innings of work.

Made History: In his last start at Citizens Bank Park, Javier was a part of just the 2nd no-hitter in World Series history, hurling 6.0 no-hit innings in the Astros 5-0 win in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series (11/2/22). Javier tallied 9 K’s in that outing. 6 current members of the Phillies started in that no-hitter. The night before the no-hitter, Phillies hitters combined for 5 HR in a 7-0 win in Game 3 of that WS.

ROAD WARRIORS: Today is the 3rd game (1-1 thus far) of a 6-game road trip for the Astros. After today’s game, they will fly to Florida for a 3-game set over the weekend vs. TB at Tropicana Field. Since going 1-9 on the first road trip of the 2026 season, the Astros have gone 36-25 (.590) on the road since April 14, which ranks third in the Majors in that span. More recently, they are 20-13 (.606) on their last 6 road trips combined (includes current trip).

LEAD PROTECTORS: Monday night’s win improved the Astros record to 64-0 when leading after 8.0 innings. They are 1 of 4 clubs that have not lost a game when leading after 8.0 innings. The others are TB (77-0), ARI (66-0), TEX (62-0).

BIG WES: With Tuesday night’s win, RHP Hayden Wesneski is now 3-0 in his last 4 starts with a 1.57 ERA (4ER/23IP). For the season, he is 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 8 starts (Astros are 7-1 in his starts).

THE HIT MAN: Jose Altuve collected his 2,500th career hit last night, becoming the 103rd player in ML history to reach this milestone. Freddie Freeman was the last player to reach 2,500 hits, which took place on June 9 of this year at PNC Park vs. PIT. Freeman (2,587) and Altuve (2,500) are the 2 active hits leaders in the Majors. Altuve ranks 2nd in franchise history in hits to Craig Biggio (3.060).

Another Record: Altuve’s 3-hit game on Sunday vs. ARI was the 225th of his career, which ties Biggio for the most in franchise history.

ON THE OFFENSIVE: The Astros lead the AL in SLG (.410), rank 2nd in HR (192), T-3rd in OPS (.725) and 5th in runs scored (660).

SLOW AND STEADY RECOVERY: Since starting the season with a 20-31 record after 51 games, the Astros are 54-41 (.568) in their last 95 games (since May 22). That is the second-best record in the AL in that span, behind only the Boston Red Sox.

WINNING THE WEST: The Astros currently hold a 2.0-game lead in the AL West over the 2nd-place Rangers. HOU finished at 9-4 vs. TEX, so they hold the tiebreaker vs. them.

STARTING STRONG: In the last 9 games, Astros starters have combined for a 2.94 ERA (16ER/49IP). The Astros are 5-4 in that span. Additionally, the Astros are 9-6 in their last 15 games, during which the starters have posted a combined 3.30 ERA (28ER/76.1IP).

TRIPLE THREAT: Yordan Alvarez, who is a solid candidate for the AL MVP Award, currently ranks 1st or 2nd in the AL in all three Triple Crown categories. He enters today leading the AL in batting avg. (.312), while ranking 2nd in HR (38) and RBI (96). Alvarez also leads the Majors in OPS (1.022) and leads the AL in SLG (.593) and OBP (.428).

Rare Feat: Since Carl Yastrzemski won the AL Triple Crown in 1967, there has been just one Triple Crown winner in the Majors, Miguel Cabrera in 2012 (AL).

CHALLENGING STRETCH: The Astros are 5-4 thus far while in the midst of a stretch of playing 4 consecutive teams (CWS, ARI, PHI, TB) with winning records, 2 of which are leading their respective divisions (CWS, TB), one that would qualify for the playoffs as a WC (PHI) and another that is 0.5 game out of a WC spot (ARI). In this stretch, HOU has gone 3-1 vs. CWS, 1-2 vs. ARI and 1-1 at PHI.

MEASURING UP: The Astros are 28-20 (.583) vs. teams currently at .500 or above. They own a winning record vs. several clubs that are in the AL postseason hunt: 5-1 vs. BOS, 5-2 vs. CWS, 4-2 vs. CLE, 2-1 vs. TB, 9-4 vs. TEX.

DOWN ON THE FARM: Single A Fayetteville is scheduled to play tonight at Fredericksburg in Game 2 of their Carolina League playoff series. They lead the series, 1-0.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 2005 – In a 7-5 win at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Craig Biggio hits his 600th career double, becoming just the 13th player in MLB history to reach that milestone.

1980 – Jose Cruz is the hero with a 12-inning walk-off solo HR off Rick Sutcliffe to defeat the Dodgers in the Dome, 6-5.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Thursday, September 10, 12:05 p.m. CT

Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA

TV: Space City Home Network; MLB Network (subject to local blackout)

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Rubber match.

⚾️: 12:05 PM CT
📺: @MLBNetwork (HOU Blackout) | @SpaceCityHN
🎙️: @SportsTalk790 | Spanish: 102.9 HD2#ChaseTheFight x @reliantenergypic.twitter.com/g7beD2oOhH

— Houston Astros (@astros) September 10, 2026

Back in the powder blues 🩵#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/oLHnI5v4dl

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 10, 2026

As you know, the Cubs hold the tiebreaker over the three teams closest to them in the Wild Card race, the Phillies, Diamondbacks and Padres. This is extremely important now because the Cubs trail the Phillies by 1.5 games entering Thursday’s action, and the Phillies/Astros game will be happening this afternoon. The Cubs are 2.5 games ahead of the Padres and three games ahead of the Diamondbacks.

Tankathon has the Phillies with the toughest strength of schedule of the four clubs (fourth). The Cubs are ninth, Diamondbacks 20th and Padres 21st, entering Thursday’s action.

Here are the remaining schedules for all four teams. Home games in boldface.

Cubs, 15 games (9 home, 6 road)

Pirates (3), Braves (3), at Reds (3), Marlins (3), at Red Sox (3)

The Cubs dropped from fifth to ninth in the Tankathon ranking after the Brewers series. They have six games remaining against postseason contenders and nine against other clubs.

Phillies, 16 games (7 home, 9 road)

Astros (1), at Braves (3), at Nationals (3), at Mets (3), Brewers (3), Rays (3)

That’s 10 of 16 games against teams currently in first place, including today vs. the Astros. The Phillies are currently under .500 (28-31) against teams with winning records. That could help out the Cubs.

The Brewers might wind up really helping out the Cubs when that series happens, even though Milwaukee likely has clinched the NL Central by then. They still might have to win games to clinch home field. The Rays currently lead the Yankees by four games, but who knows? The AL East race might come down to the wire.

Padres, 16 games (6 home, 10 road)

at Giants (3), at Rockies (4), Marlins (3), at Dodgers (3), Diamondbacks (3)

The Padres have an “easy” stretch coming up, then finish up with six against postseason contenders. Those last three Diamondbacks/Padres games could help decide one of the wild card spots. San Diego is just 32-39 away from Petco Park.

Diamondbacks, 15 games (9 home, 6 road)

Rangers (3), Marlins (3), Yankees (3), at Rockies (3), at Padres (3)

A combination of teams fighting for postseason spots and teams way out of it. The D-backs and Padres have split their first 10 games this year, and the teams also have split at each other’s parks, 2-2 in San Diego and 3-3 in Arizona.

Fasten your seat belts!

Remember when the Dodgers went to the market and spent a lot of money to sign Edwin Díaz, baseball’s number one available relief pitcher simply because they could? Well, that hasn’t worked out the way everybody hoped. Intentionally overlooking the possibility — small, although very real — that something clicks and Díaz can perform up to his potential in the playoffs, the reigning back-to-back champs will have to make do without what they bargained for last offseason.

As damaging as that can be, this bullpen in its current construction bears no resemblance to the unit that was dragged over the finish line a season ago; this one is perfectly capable of not just getting by but fulfilling a crucial role in this quest for a three-peat.

Although other bullpens carry better stats, the Dodgers lead the National League in one particular category, one that will definitely come into play in October: strikeout rate, only trailing the Guardians in the entire sport with a 25.5-percent strikeout rate.

Any bullpen conversation with the Dodgers starts with Tanner Scott’s bounce-back, a pitcher we shall pretend arrived a year later than his contract would suggest. The former Padre has essentially filled the role set aside for Díaz before the season, as the standout closer acquired on the open market. Prone to inopportune slip-ups, hence the 1-5 record, Scott shouldn’t see his total production diminished to the point of skepticism around his ability to come up big in the playoffs. The air of invincibility may be lacking in comparison with other elite closers, such as Mason Miller and Josh Hader. Given where we were a year ago, it’s difficult not to embrace the optimism of this development. And we even have a backup plan for the closer role; more on that later.

Below Scott, the Dodgers rely on Edgardo Henríquez, who has firmly established himself as a key setup option, matching the wow factor of his stuff with the production on the mound. Henríquez was already a serviceable alternative coming up down the stretch last season. With adjustments to his arsenal and approach, the righty has taken his strikeout rate to the expected range for a pitcher of his qualities, near 30 percent.

The link in trust between last year’s bullpen and this season’s unit might be in the middle of a last dance in a Dodgers uniform. Alex Vesia — a free agent to be — might very well be priced out of staying with the Dodgers, who have other priorities, but let’s not dwell on that now and simply enjoy this special character who has been here since the start of this dynasty. Carrying on an extremely reliable career, becoming much more than the simple specialist he was first deployed as, Vesia has been equally dominant against righties and lefties—with a slugging percentage allowed below .300 facing either. Lastly, in the group of reliable regular-season options, you have maybe the heir apparent to Vesia in Jack Dreyer—a reliever developed in-house with similar fastball characteristics to Vesia, who has over 130 innings in the bigs since the start of last season with a sub-3.00 ERA. Equally dominant against righties and lefties, Dreyer is already a key cog in this bullpen, only in his second season as a big leaguer.

Beyond that trio, you have a balanced mixture of talented arms with a limited sample in the regular season, often due to injuries, and then perhaps this team’s secret weapon in the playoffs: talented starters turned relievers and all the flexibility they bring to the table. It’s difficult to imagine the Dodgers reaching their ultimate goal last season if not for the efforts of Roki Sasaki out of the bullpen, quickly becoming LA’s most trusted reliever back then. Working his way back from a nagging blister, Sasaki has taken steps forward on his way to establishing himself as a productive major league starter, but in the short term his postseason role once again lies in the work out of the bullpen. Considering his level of success as a closer last year, the Dodgers could reasonably hand him that role, but it should be noted that Scott has struggled when pitching in non-save situations this season, with an opponent’s OPS north of .700. Depending on how much weight the Dodgers place on that, they may just opt to keep him as the closer and have Sasaki in a firemen-type role.

While Sasaki is the high-profile name, there are other Dodgers starters who can provide a key impact working in relief, chief among them Justin Wrobleski, whose recent home run woes aside, has had a magnificent breakout campaign. On any other team, he’d be looked at as nothing but a starter, but the Dodgers can afford to rely on his skill set in a multi-inning role, similar to what we saw a year ago. A pitcher with more raw talent than Wrobleski but without the 2026 production to back that up, Emmet Sheehan looked great in his return to the bigs this month and will battle for a postseason spot down the stretch. If a pitcher as skilled as Sheehan ends up your go-to option to eat up innings in low-leverage spots, that’s something to be satisfied with.

All of this talent could reasonably be enough to get by in a scrap for the title, certainly much better than what Dave Roberts had at his disposal a year ago. However, we still haven’t even gotten to the wild cards of production—the ones that could make the difference between a pretty good bullpen showing and an outstanding one come the playoffs. It starts with perhaps the best success story of development in the Dodgers bullpen since Alex Vesia: Evan Phillips, who is finally healthy and pitching reasonably well in the time he’s been available.

When Phillips last pitched in the postseason, he was instrumental in helping the Dodgers get to the World Series before an injury kept him from participating in the Fall Classic. At his best, Phillips doesn’t come close to Díaz’s level, but he’s still a formidable force, and as things currently stand, there is no reason to believe he won’t carry that into October. He is probably the easiest name to be skipped to the front of the line in the race for high-leverage opportunities.

Beyond Phillips, you have Brock Stewart and Blake Treinen, whose case for reliability is a bit murkier, but it’s there nonetheless. However, the thing to note here is that even superb bullpens don’t have options of this quality just lying around with a small chance of being a big factor in the playoffs. It might even deserve more appreciation.

Legendary manager and future Hall of Famer Dusty Baker was brought to Houston in 2020 to restore credibility, pride and honor to the Astros organization and lead it to another World Championship. In his four years as the team’s skipper, Baker accomplished both of those lofty goals. He continued the Astros Golden Age by going to the ALCS every season he managed the team, and winning the 2022 World Series.

Baker is one of 19 people to ever win a World Series as both player and manager. He is 8th all time in managerial wins with 2,183 regular season wins, and he has 57 more in the postseason. He is the first manager in history to lead five different teams to division titles. He is the first African American manager to both 2000 career wins and to 50 career postseason wins. He is the oldest manager to appear in, and win, the World Series.

Baker has long been regarded as a players’ manager, renowned for the strong relationships he has built with his players over the years. In Houston, that is exactly the kind of relationship he had with Astros 2B Jose Altuve.

I reached out to Baker to get his thoughts on Jose Altuve becoming just the second active member and 103rd member in the history of baseball to join the 2500 hit club.

Baker could not have been happier for his former charge:

“It’s remarkable what he’s accomplished. The epitome of determination, will power, hard work and perseverance. Not to mention a ton of ability in a small package. Couldn’t happen to a finer person. Next stop: 3000, then the Hall of Fame.”

From one future Hall of Famer to another.

Go Rays!

Zack Wheeler continues to shine but Phillies' bats go limp in homestand finale originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

There was good news and bad news Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

The good: Zack Wheeler continued to show that he’s over his second-half slump.

The bad: The Phillies’ bats did little to support Wheeler and a so-so seven-game homestand came to an end with a 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros.

Jhoan Duran gave up a tie-breaking solo homer to Cam Smith with one out in the top of the ninth to put the Astros ahead. Smith hit a down-the-middle, first-pitch splitter to left-center.

While Duran’s pitch was poorly located, it was hardly the Phillies’ biggest flaw of the day. Alec Bohm ran into an out at third base in the fifth inning. There was a mix-up in the infield covering second base on a double by Jose Altuve in the eighth. The Phils played over that one. Phillies hitters struck out nine times and had just three hits on the day. They chased 34 pitches out of the strike zone, a season-high 52 percent and the fifth-highest percentage by any team in the majors in a single game this season, according to Statcast. What’s more, that 52 percent chase rate was the highest in any Phillies game since tracking started in 2009.

Most of the chase came against Houston starter Cristian Javier, who kept the Phils off balance with four pitches – fastball, changeup, sweeper and cutter.

“We were swinging at pitches out of the zone and not letting him come to us. That was the biggest thing today,” Bryce Harper said. “I can only speak for myself, the last seven games haven’t been great. I’ve just got to be better.”

The Phils went 3-4 on the homestand, splitting a four-gamer with Atlanta and losing two of three to Houston.

The Phillies were a majors-best 21-7 in August. Their chase rate was just 29.7 percent and their 15.9 percent strikeout rate was the best in the majors. So far in September, the strikeout rate is over 22 percent. The team’s walk rate has shrunk from over 11 percent in August to under 7 percent this month.

These little things make a difference, especially with big games to play and October coming.

“I think we’ll be OK,” Harper said. “I don’t see us going backward in those situations. We’ve got to do it. If we don’t, it’s going to look exactly like it did the last couple years.”

(Harper was referring to two straight early playoff exits. Both were fueled by hitters chasing pitches out of the zone, and shaky bullpen work.)

Wheeler and Javier hooked up in a good pitchers’ duel Thursday afternoon. Javier held the Phillies to three hits and a run over six innings.

Wheeler pitched seven innings of one-run ball. He allowed five hits, walked two and struck out nine.

“Wheels was really good,” manager Don Mattingly said. “When you get that kind of start, you expect to win. We just weren’t able to get anything going all day.”

“Yeah,” Harper said. “Wheels did his job. As an offense, we weren’t able to get it going.”

Wheeler did some of his best work in the sixth and seventh innings. He struck out the side in the sixth then battled through a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.

Running on fumes, Wheeler issued a pair of two-out walks in the seventh as the Astros loaded the bases in a 1-1 game. The right-hander was at 105 pitches when Houston sent pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz to the plate. With the crowd of 37,100 on its feet, Wheeler struck out Diaz on a 2-2 sweeper to preserve the tie. It was his 110^th pitch and he left the mound to a standing ovation.

Mattingly had rookie Alex McFarlane up in the bullpen, but it was Wheeler’s game.

“His stuff was still good,” Mattingly said. “I felt he had enough in the tank to get that hitter. He was the best guy for that situation.”

Wheeler admitted that he fed off the crowd in getting his final out. On the day, his fastball reached 97.2 mph and sat at 95.7 mph. He got four strikeouts on his splitter, which he rediscovered in his previous start. He got 18 swings and misses.

“Everything is doing what it’s supposed to,” he said.

Wheeler struggled in a six-start stretch from July 27 to August 21. He recorded an 8.51 ERA over that span. In three starts since then, he has allowed just three runs in 19 innings. He’s back. And that’s good news for the Phillies as the games only get bigger, starting this weekend in Atlanta.

The Phils trail the first-place Braves by four games in the NL East with 15 to play. That deficit is actually five games considering the Braves hold a tie-breaker over the Phils based on head-to-head record. The Phils pretty much need a sweep if they have designs on winning the division.

A wild-card playoff berth is more likely. The Phils lead the Chicago Cubs by one-game for the top wild-card spot.

The Phils need to win the division or the top wild-card spot to host a first-round, best-of-three playoff series. The race for the top wild-card spot could go right down to the final day.

“It’s super important,” Harper said of playing that first series at home. “We’re trying to run down the Braves and the Cubs at the same time. We want to play at home. We want to be here and play in front of our own fans, sleep in our own bed and have the opportunity to play at our park. It’s a huge advantage in the postseason, just hearing it from other players coming in here and playing in this environment. We expect our crowds to be loud and crazy and obnoxious and talk the crap that they do to other players and all that kind of stuff. So, I think it plays a huge part.”

Here are the pitching matchups for the series in Atlanta.

Friday night – Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.76) vs. lefty Chris Sale (14-9, 2.10).

Saturday night – Jesus Luzardo (14-5, 2.87) vs. right-hander Tyler Mahle (5-10, 4.05).

Sunday afternoon – Andrew Painter (3-9, 5.71) vs. right-hander Grant Holmes (9-5, 3.46).