Major League Baseball

Astros waste strong performance by Keuchel, lose to Phillies

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:52 p.m. ET

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CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) Left-hander Dallas Keuchel tossed seven scoreless innings, but the Houston Astros wasted his performance as the bullpen was torched for eight runs in an 8-4 loss Wednesday to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Keuchel, who held the Phillies to two hits, finished the spring without allowing an earned run in 17 innings pitched.

The Phillies used a suicide squeeze bunt by Cesar Hernandez to tie the game at 3 in the eighth. Maikel Franco followed with a go-ahead RBI single, and Andres Blanco hit a grand slam to cap an eight-run inning against Houston's bullpen.

In a matchup between both teams' opening day starters, Philadelphia's offense struggled to get anything going against Keuchel. The Phillies managed only two hits off the reigning AL Cy Young winner.

Jose Altuve's two-out, three-run homer off Jeremy Hellickson broke the scoreless game in the fifth. Those were the only runs Hellickson allowed in his 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one.

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