Painter (3-9) took the loss Tuesday as the Phillies fell 6-5 to the Astros, coughing up five runs on 10 hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out six.
Four of the hits off the 23-year-old righty went for extra bases, including homers by Christian Walker in the second inning and Cam Smith in the fourth. The outing snapped Painter's quality start streak at three, and while he's still prone to rough nights, his overall results have been improving. Since the beginning of August, he's kept the ball in the yard in five of seven trips to the mound, delivering a 3.89 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 38:12 K:BB over 39.1 innings. Painter will look to shake this one off in his next start, which is scheduled to come on the road this weekend in Atlanta.