Suarez suffered early control issues in the first loss of 2024 and originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
DENVER — It took almost two months, but the Phillies finally dropped a series and Ranger Suarez ended up losing a game.
The Phils had won 11 series and split four since dropping two of three games to the Reds in the first week of the season. They blew a ninth-inning lead in extra-inning play against the Rockies on Friday night, came back to win in the ninth inning on Saturday and quickly fell behind in Sunday’s 5-2 loss.
Ranger Suarez allowed a two-run shot to Ryan McMahon in the bottom of the first inning, a ball that kept being carried to right-center field. It was a windy day at Coors Field, with speeds of 10 to 15 mph out of left field, but right and right center could be a jet stream.
Suarez then walked four batters in a three-run second inning in which only one single was recorded. He got a chance to escape the inning by allowing just one run when Brendan Rodgers hit a sharp groundball to Alec Bohm with the bases loaded, but Bohm bobbled the ball and threw errantly to first base after hitting the third base had stepped. Two points were scored during the action.
Suarez went 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA and MLB-leading 0.79 WHIP. He wanted to become the first Phillie ever to win ten straight starts. He was ready for one of these. He is now 9-1 with an ERA of 1.75.
“The first two innings I couldn’t control my changeup or curveball,” he said. “My fastball wasn’t going for strikes either. I think that was the game there. When I was finally able to adjust, we were already five behind.
“I think it was just a bad day, a couple of bad innings, because after we made the adjustments, my curveball and changeups worked and I was able to mix my pitches better.”
Suarez recovered to retire the last thirteen batters he faced and get through six innings, which was important in keeping the bullpen with Taijuan Walker going into Monday. Spencer Turnbull, the only real tall man in the pen, had the ninth inning on Saturday and has never pitched consecutive days as a pro. Jose Ruiz, who threw two innings twice this month, pitched Friday and Saturday and manager Rob Thomson rarely uses a reliever three days in a row.
“The last two nights we’ve had pitchers with over 30 pitch innings and they’re getting through six of them,” Thomson said. “You don’t see that often, usually there are at most five. Those guys are grinding, they’ll figure it out.
“I would count it as one of those days.”
The Phillies made it a game with runs in the fourth and fifth inning. Bohm singled for Kyle Schwarber and Johan Rojas singled for Brandon Marsh. A three-run deficit at Coors Field can be overcome quickly, but the lineup couldn’t string together enough hits to get closer with just two hits in the final four innings.
The 38-16 Phillies now move to San Francisco for a three-game series against the 27-27 Giants. Walker, Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez will pitch for the Phils. The Giants have lefties scheduled for the series opener (Blake Snell) and finale (Kyle Harrison) with Tuesday to be determined.
“A bit strange,” Thomson said of the weekend. “You come in here and you think you’re going to score a bunch of runs and hit home runs through the thin air, and we didn’t have a single slug today.
“Just one of those days, one of those weekends, I guess.”
