Jesús Luzardo’s big bounce-back season continues against his former team in Phillies’ win over the Marlins

MIAMI — Last September, Jesús Luzardo wanted nothing more than to stand atop the mound here, 50 miles from where he grew up, and start a major league game again.

And now?

Well, let’s put it this way: Luzardo spun six solid innings against his former team Saturday in a 4-2 victory over the Marlins, and it was par for the course in his convincing bounce-back season with the Phillies.

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“I feel like I was confident in my ability to be able to get back there,” said Luzardo, staked to a lead on Bryce Harper’s two-run homer in the first inning en route to the Phillies’ seventh win in nine games. “But obviously it’s a confidence-builder just knowing that I still feel strong at the innings that I’m at [after] having thrown only 60 last year.”

OK, a quick tale of the tape on Luzardo’s season:

Whatever the Phillies expected after trading for Luzardo in December coming off a stress reaction in his low back that cut short a season in Miami after 66⅔ innings, even the most bullish team officials couldn’t have predicted that.

It isn’t so much the quality of Luzardo’s starts. The 27-year-old lefty has always possessed top-of-a-rotation talent, even before he incorporated a sweeping slider in spring training with the Phillies that has become his top offspeed weapon.

But Luzardo has provided volume, invaluable now that Zack Wheeler is awaiting season-ending surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. Luzardo hasn’t missed a start. And with at least three regular-season starts remaining, he’s only 17 innings shy of equaling his career high.

“I just know how hard he works, you know?” manager Rob Thomson said. “Just seeing him in spring training, I thought, ‘OK, this guy’s a bulldog. If something doesn’t flare up on him, I think he’s going to be able to last and do a good job for us,’ and he’s done a great job for us.”

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Luzardo ran into a fourth-inning hiccup when the Marlins halved a 4-0 Phillies lead on two infield hits, a bloop, and a double off the left-field wall. Otherwise, he rode the sweeper and a fastball that scraped 98.5 mph to subdue the young Marlins, many of whom wear uniform numbers that are commonly found on the backs of NFL linemen.

The Phillies (83-59) held a 6½-game lead in the NL East, pending the outcome of the Mets’ night game in Cincinnati, and led the swooning Dodgers by 4½ games in the race for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and a bye in the wild-card round.

As ever, starting pitching is the Phillies’ strength, even without Wheeler. And Luzardo has emerged as one of their top three starters, with fellow lefties Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez.

“He’s been great all season long,” said J.T. Realmuto, who threw out his 200th career baserunner in the seventh inning. “It’s not easy to do what he’s done, coming off injuries last year and being able to come in and throw this many innings and throw this many quality innings. It’s been a big pickup for our rotation.”

Harper banged Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara’s 12th pitch of the game — a two-strike fastball — to straightaway center field for the early lead. It was an appropriate, if wholly unintentional tribute to Davey Johnson, Harper’s first major league manager, who died Friday at age 82.

“One of the better people I’ve ever been around,” Harper said. “Just a lot of fun to play for him. He loved young players. He gave me the opportunity to be a big leaguer.”

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Luzardo retired nine of the first 11 Marlins batters, including six strikeouts. He got 10 swings and misses with the sweeper, then sprinkled in the changeup to give the Marlins another pitch to consider.

In the fourth inning, the Phillies’ newly minted outfield trio supplied Luzardo with more breathing room.

Brandon Marsh led off with a double and scored on a bloop single by Harrison Bader. After Max Kepler singled, Edmundo Sosa beat out an infield single to load the bases, and Bader scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Bryson Stott.

Luzardo toughed after the fourth inning, completing six before David Robertson, Matt Strahm, and Jhoan Duran got the final nine outs.

“We knew how good [Luzardo] could be, and obviously he’s throwing the ball great for us,” Harper said. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch and see him get better throughout the year.”

The Phillies still must decide if Luzardo will start ahead of rotation mainstay Aaron Nola in a potential playoff series. But there’s time to discuss that.

For now, they can appreciate how much he has rebounded since last season in Miami.

“I feel really good, physically,” Luzardo said. “In the past, I think there was a lot of questions about my health. I think we’ve put those to bed. I feel really good, thankfully.”