By Theo DeRosa, Sports Talk Philly staff 
Final: Phillies 9, Astros 0
PHILADELPHIA—Aaron Nola set a new career-high in strikeouts, Cameron Rupp clobbered two home runs and the Phillies clicked on all cylinders as they shut out the AL-leading Astros on Wednesday night to avoid a sweep.
The Phils chased Houston starter Mike Fiers after four innings and tagged his replacement, Michael Feliz, in the fifth and sixth as they built up the lead. Nola threw six scoreless frames, striking out 10 Astros to record a new high mark.
WP: Aaron Nola (9-5, 3.17) ❖ LP: Mike Fiers (1-2, 3.71)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | X | 9 | 14 | 1 |
Nola stranded a leadoff double in the first when José Altuve was left at third by the top of the Astros' order. In the second, Carlos Beltrán and Tyler White each singled but Nola kept them there.
In the bottom of the second, the Phillies left two men on as well. They weren't retired 1-2-3 by Astros pitching until the seventh.
Nola kept cruising throughout the game, picking up strikeout after strikeout. In the third, he struck out the side by retiring Altuve, Derek Fisher and Josh Reddick.
Tommy Joseph doubled with one out in the fourth and Rupp crushed his first home run of the game, out to right-center. César Hernández was hit by a pitch, Freddy Galvis walked and Nick Williams singled in Hernández for the Phillies' third run.
Howie Kendrick left in the fourth, replaced by Cameron Perkins, after Kendrick was hit on the hand by a pitch.
In the fifth, Feliz was greeted by three straight hits — Aaron Altherr's triple and Maikel Franco's homer that made it just inside the foul pole. Joseph singled and Hernández doubled, but nothing more came out of the inning.
Williams led off the sixth with a single, and Altherr had a one-out base hit. With two away, Joseph sent a ball into left-center that both Houston outfielders, Fisher and Beltrán, overran. It scored Williams from third and Altherr all the way from first.
Rupp followed up with his second homer, a long fly ball out to left-center, to make it 9-0.
Luis Garcia continued his scoreless streak with a clean seventh and Joaquín Benoit pitched a scoreless eighth. Héctor Neris ran into some trouble in the ninth, but held on with ease as the Phillies avoided the three-game sweep.
The Phils get Thursday off and start a home series with the Atlanta Braves on Friday night as Jeremy Hellickson faces Julio Teherán.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Fiers | 4.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3.71 |
| Aaron Nola | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 3.17 |
Phillies
- Cameron Rupp: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, .233 AVG
- Tommy Joseph: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, .253 AVG
- Maikel Franco: 2-5, R, HR, 2 RBI, .226 AVG
Astros
- Tyler White: 2-4, .300 AVG
- José Altuve: 2-4, .365 AVG
- Carlos Beltrán: 2-4, .234 AVG
Bullpen
Phillies
- Luis García (7th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 2.09 ERA
- Joaquín Benoit (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.20 ERA
- Héctor Neris (9th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 3.20 ERA
Astros
- Michael Feliz (5th): 2.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR, 4.84 ERA
- Tony Sipp (7th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.99 ERA
- Luke Gregerson (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.02 ERA
What's Next
- Friday, July 28, 2017: vs. Atlanta Braves, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Julio Teherán (7-8, 4.67 ERA) vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (6-5, 4.73 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
