The Phillies will be hitting the road with a sour taste in their mouths after dropping their fourth straight game to the lowly Astros Thursday.
Wandy Rodriguez pitched seven sharp innings, Carlos Lee homered and the Stros beat the Phillies 5-1 to complete their first four-game sweep in Philly in 11 years.
The two-time NL champion Phillies yet again failed to pick up ground on idle Atlanta as they fell three games behind the Braves in the NL East and the loss left the Phils trailing San Francisco by a half-game in the wild-card standings.
Rodriguez (10-12) allowed one run and five hits, striking out six. The left-hander is 7-2 with a 1.79 ERA since June 24.
The spoiler Astros got major contributions from three former Phillies -- pitchers Brett Myers and J.A. Happ and All-Star outfielder Michael Bourn -- to earn the first four game sweep by an opponent in Citizens Bank Park history.
Houston’s dominance over Philly is nothing new. The Astros have owned the Phillies in recent years. They are the only NL team with a winning record (30-16) against Philadelphia since 2004. And the Astros are 16-7 in Philadelphia since the Phillies moved out of Veterans Stadium.
The Phils have played down to the lesser teams in the majors, going 21-19 against clubs that are 10 games or more below .500.
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Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (8-7) allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings. He's 1-2 with a 6.23 ERA in his last three starts.
But this series had much less to do with the pitching than a lack of offensive pop.
The Phightins' inconsistent offense is struggling again, scoring two runs or less in seven of the last eight games.
Rodriguez allowed only one baserunner on a walk until Jayson Werth lined a single to left to start Philadelphia's fifth. Raul Ibanez followed with a double, but Rodriguez pitched out of the no-out jam without allowing a run. Shane Victorino struck out. Brian Schneider then lined out to right fielder Hunter Pence, who easily nailed Werth at the plate.
The Phillies finally broke through in the sixth. Chase Utley lined an RBI double into the right-field corner to cut it to 4-1.
Starting Friday the Phillies face a challenging seven-game West Coast trip with three games at NL-West leading San Diego and against the Dodgers before playing a make up game in Colorado before heading home.
If the Phils hope to keep pace in the playoff race they will need to have a winning trip.
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