A lack of offense from the Philadelphia Phillies spoils another solid effort by Ranger Suarez in the team’s 4-2 loss to Atlanta Braves.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
ABOVE PHOTO: Atlanta Braves players celebrate a win against the Phillies in last night’s series opener. Photo by Webster Riddick
Don’t look now, but the Philadelphia Phillies have found their way back into the playoff chase.
After starting the month of June, six games below .500, the Phillies (38-35) came into Tuesday night’s first game of a three-game series against the first-place Atlanta Braves with a 13-4 record and a six-game winning streak. The Phillies are two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the third wildcard spot in the National League.
Meanwhile, the Braves came into Tuesday night’s series opener with a six-game winning streak of their own. Even with two solid pitchers on the mound with Atlanta’s Spencer Strider and Phils left-hander Ranger Suarez, one of those streaks were coming to an end.
Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez. Photo by Webster Riddick
Unfortunately for Phillies fans, it was the Fightins that took the loss. Despite Suarez treating the 37,746 fans that came to Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday to yet another stellar outing, the Phillies lost 4-2 to the Braves. Suarez allowed one run on just four hits in his six innings on the mound, but neither the offense nor the bullpen helped him get the win.
Phillies Manager Rob Thompson praised Suarez for his efforts.
“(Suarez) was fantastic. He had everything working,” Thomson said. “His curveball was really working, his changeup was good, his cutter was good. I can’t say enough about him.”
Speaking through an interpreter, Suarez said he was focused on executing his pitches given the toughness of the Braves hitters. He was pleased with his performance Tuesday and throughout the last month but was disappointed that the Phillies didn’t come away with the win.
“I’m very happy because that’s what I’ve been working for,” Suarez said. “Unfortunately, today we didn’t get the results we wanted. As a team, we’re focused on turning the page and winning tomorrow.”
In his six innings on the mound, Strider (8-2), who got the win, allowed just one run on three hits and struck out nine. The Phillies were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
“We had some chances,” Thomson said. “(Strider) really pitched well when he had to. He hunkered down when had runners in scoring position. He had a lot of swings and misses out of it. We had our chances, we had some base hits, but we couldn’t come through.”
Phillies designated hitter Bryce Harper, who had two singles off Strider, said it was frustrating for the team to put pressure on Strider and not score more runs than they did.
Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber strikes out to end the game. Photo by Webster Riddick
“He had our number a little bit,” Harper said. “I thought we had opportunities to get runs in there, but it didn’t happen for us. … It was definitely a game that we let get away from us.”
The Phillies jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning on a two-out RBI single by Nick Castellanos that drove in centerfielder Brandon Marsh, who reached on a single to center.
The Braves tied the game on a solo home run by Austin Riley in the top of the sixth inning. Atlanta assumed command of the game by scoring two runs off Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman in the seventh on an RBI single by Ronald Acuna Jr. and an Ozzie Albies ground out to second to score pinch hitter Eddie Rosario to make the score 3-1.
In the eighth inning, Atlanta’s Matt Olson added a solo home run off Phillies reliever Andrew Vasquez. Thomson said Phillies’ bullpen stalwarts like Jose Alvarado, Matt Strahm, and Yunior Marte were not available for the Phillies because of workload.
The Phillies would add another run in the ninth on an RBI single by catcher J.T. Realmuto that plated Brandon Marsh. Realmuto got thrown out at second trying to stretch his single into a double.
Aaron Nola will try and start a new winning streak for the Phillies when he takes the mound on Tuesday to face A.J. Smith-Shawver of the Braves at Citizens Bank Park tonight at 6:40 p.m. You can catch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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