Phillies 11, Astros 7: Schwarber's Grand Slam Caps a Six-Run Sixth

4-0. Then 4-4. Then a slam.

September 9, 2026 - Philadelphia - Kyle Schwarber took a 3-2 sweeper from A.J. Blubaugh and hit it to right. Grand slam. His 10th career slam. His fourth homer in five games. His MLB-leading 44th of the year. The Philadelphia Phillies led 11-6, and the Houston Astros did not catch them.

Final: Phillies 11, Astros 7 at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia had already erased a 4-0 hole in the third. Houston had gone back in front 6-4. Trea Turner homered in the fifth. The sixth did the rest. Cristopher Sánchez allowed six runs in six innings and still improved to 17-5, the NL lead in wins. That is a September starter's line when the DH hits a slam.

Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind out to center at 13 mph. Attendance 38,642. Game time 2 hours, 54 minutes. The ball was going to fly. Both clubs used it.

Houston's third, then Philadelphia's third

Hunter Brown had a 4-0 lead after three and did not keep it. Cam Smith scored on Yordan Alvarez's double. Isaac Paredes homered to left-center, his 19th, Alvarez scoring. 3-0. Jose Altuve doubled for his 2,500th career hit, just the second Astro to get there after Craig Biggio, per the Associated Press. Yainer Diaz singled Altuve home. 4-0.

Philadelphia answered before the inning closed. J.T. Realmuto scored on Turner's single. Bryce Harper singled two in and took second on Smith's throwing error. 4-3. Luis Arraez singled Harper home. 4-4. Four runs, three singles, one error. Brown's lead lasted one half-inning.

Smith made it 6-4 in the fourth with a two-run homer to center, his 19th, Daulton Varsho scoring ahead of him. Sánchez had already given up 10 hits by the time he finished six. Two homers. Zero walks. Three strikeouts. 81 pitches. The Phillies left him in because the offense was still swinging.

Turner homered to right-center in the fifth, his 19th. 6-5. He finished 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBI, and a stolen base. The steal in the third put him in scoring position for Harper. The homer in the fifth made it a one-run game. Both mattered.

King recorded zero outs. Schwarber recorded four RBI.

Bryan King (2-5) entered in the sixth and did not get an out. Three hits, four runs, three earned. Blown save, his fifth. Arraez scored on Edmundo Sosa's single. Bryson Stott scored on Bryan De La Cruz's walk. Bases still loaded. Blubaugh came on and threw that 3-2 sweeper. Schwarber did not miss it. 11-6. Sosa, Justin Crawford, and De La Cruz scored ahead of him.

Brown's line: five innings, seven hits, five runs, four earned, zero walks, seven strikeouts, 90 pitches. He left a 6-4 game. The bullpen turned it into 11-6. Tatsuya Imai threw two scoreless innings after the slam. Paredes singled Jeremy Peña home in the seventh. 11-7. That was Houston's last run.

Jonathan Bowlan allowed the seventh-inning run. Alex McFarlane threw a 1-2-3 eighth. Jhoan Duran struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Sánchez got the win because baseball still gives wins to the starter who is ahead when he leaves, even after six runs.

De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs, and an RBI. Arraez went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a run, and an RBI. Harper drove in two. The Phillies had 12 hits. Houston had 12 hits and two errors. Peña went 2-for-5. Alvarez went 2-for-5 with a double. Paredes went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Smith went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Both lineups hit. One of them had Schwarber in the sixth.

Philadelphia is 82-64. Houston is 74-72. The Phillies cut Atlanta's NL East lead to three games after Tampa Bay beat the Braves. Zack Wheeler was lined up for Thursday against Cristian Javier. A club that can spot Sánchez six runs and still win 11-7 is the version of this team that stays in a race.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Turner at 10 hitting fantasy points. Philadelphia finished with 18 team FP, fourth on the slate. Houston finished with 2 team FP despite 12 hits. Six runs allowed in a loss will do that to a team score. Schwarber's slam is the baseball story. Turner's full line is what the hitter board caught.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*