Philadelphia Phillies vs Houston Astros Box Score on Oct 29, 2022

HOUSTON -- Houston left-hander Framber Valdez carried a shutout into the seventh inning in Game 2 of the World Series and, given the Astros' five-run lead at the time, his performance should have sufficed.

But after rallying from five runs down to steal Game 1 on Friday, the Philadelphia Phillies made the Astros sweat out the final three innings of their 5-2 victory on Saturday. The win evened this best-of-seven series at a game apiece with Game 3 scheduled for Monday in Philadelphia.

The Astros opened the game with three consecutive doubles while scoring three runs off Phillies starter Zack Wheeler (1-2) in the bottom of the first inning. Alex Bregman later slugged a two-run home run in the fifth to provide some cushion for Valdez and the bullpen.

"I thought Framber did a great job as well," Bregman said. "Just amazing performance by him and our bullpen as well. They were battling. They (the Phillies) have one of the best offenses we have seen, and they battle."

Valdez (2-0) labored a bit over his first three innings, found his rhythm in the fourth and fifth, and notched the biggest outs of his start as the Phillies attempted to mount a comeback in the sixth.

Valdez needed 55 pitches to complete three scoreless frames of work but retired the side in order in the fourth on 11 pitches. He faced the minimum in the fifth, when he induced Matt Vierling to roll into a 6-4-3 double play before getting a called third strike on Edmundo Sosa.

In the sixth, after Houston extended to a 5-0 lead on the Bregman blast, Valdez quelled a threat.

After winning the series opener 6-5, the Phillies mounted another rally when Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins reached in succession to open the sixth. But Valdez recorded a strikeout of J.T. Realmuto before getting Bryce Harper to ground into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.

Nick Castellanos doubled leading off the seventh and later scored, but that was the lone tally against Valdez, who allowed four hits and three walks while striking out nine over 6 1/3 innings.

After tagging Phillies starter Aaron Nola for five runs in Game 1, the Astros did the same to Wheeler, who allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks over five innings.

"I think everybody deserves a poor start every once in a while," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "Those guys have been so good for us for so long, and I fully expect them to come back and be ready to go and pitch well for us."

Houston became the first team in World Series history to open a game with three consecutive extra-base hits as Jose Altuve (who finished 3-for-4), Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez doubled to fuel a 2-0 lead.

Alvarez followed with some daring baserunning, tagging from second on a Kyle Tucker flyout to center field and subsequently scoring when Sosa delivered an errant throw to first on a Yuli Gurriel grounder to short.

Four innings later, Bregman blasted a 2-0 slider from Wheeler 405 feet to left-center field, scoring Alvarez with his third home run of the postseason.

Befitting their profile, the Phillies kept pushing, placing runners on the corners against Astros reliever Rafael Montero with two outs in the eighth for Harper, whose popup to shallow right field nearly dropped before Pena made the running catch.

Montero almost allowed a two-run homer to Schwarber three batters earlier, yielding questions if Montero should have ever faced Harper.

"Well, yeah, I had some thoughts," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. "But you think about who is the matchups for the guys that are coming up that inning. We were hoping that he would get by, through Harper. And you're always, he's always on your radar when he's going to be up next."

The Phillies added an unearned run in the ninth but this time the comeback fizzled. The drama in Game 2 matched that of the opener, but now the onus is on Philadelphia to hold serve at home.

"Yeah, as I've said all along with this club, it's really got a short memory," Thomson said. "And I expect them to come in there and be ready to go in front of a rabid fan base. They're going to flush it and move forward. And I expect them to ... come out and prepare and compete just like they always do."

--By MoiseKapenda Bower, Field Level Media