Ranger Suárez struggles with velocity and command in Phillies’ 6-1 loss to the Reds
Suárez gave up a season-high 10 hits while both his sinker and four-seam fastball were slower than normal. The Phillies offense was held scoreless until Bryce Harper's ninth-inning solo home run.
CINCINNATI — Ranger Suárez lifted his arms in exasperation, looking toward home plate umpire Willie Traynor.
TJ Friedl sent a line drive up the middle to load the bases for the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth inning. Though the Phillies left-hander is normally known for his nonchalance, it was clear Suárez’s frustration had been building all inning.
He’d already given up two runs in the inning before Friedl came to the plate. A pair of four-seam fastballs on the outside edge of the strike zone were both called balls, extending Friedl’s at-bat until he connected with a sinker.
“I think I could have gotten out of those innings with way less damage than we did,” Suárez said through a team interpreter. “I think I just was mentally blocked at that point, and I just stopped trying to execute those pitches. I think I was just throwing the ball.”
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The single ended Suárez’s night. Joe Ross allowed an inherited run to score on a deep flyout to the warning track for a sacrifice fly, upping Suárez’s total to six earned runs in the 6-1 loss to Cincinnati on Tuesday.
It can’t all be blamed on the umpire, however. Manager Rob Thomson has brushed off concerns about Suárez’s lowered velocity this season by noting his pinpoint command. But on Tuesday, he struggled with both.
All six pitches in Suárez’s arsenal were slower than normal. He averaged 89.6 mph on his sinker and 90.3 mph on his four-seam. That, combined with leaving too many pitches over the plate, allowed the Reds to knock him around for a season-high 10 hits, including a homer and two doubles.
“He was really good the first two innings, and then his command was off the rest of his outing,” Thomson said.
Thomson said he brought Suárez back out for the sixth because his pitch count was at 69 and the Phillies were short in the bullpen. After Ross finished the sixth, Max Lazar pitched the seventh and eighth.
Following a dominant first half where he posted a 2.15 ERA, Suárez’s ERA after the All-Star break has risen to 6.59. It’s a similar trend to last season, where his first-half ERA of 2.76 ballooned to 5.65 after the break.
Thomson hypothesized that fatigue may be affecting him. Suárez insisted that he feels healthy.
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“I feel good, actually,” he said. “I know I’ve had a couple rough starts, and everybody’s wondering if it could be fatigue. But it’s not. I just think about it as having to look back at those pitches that I missed, and getting better at that point.”
For the third consecutive game, the Phillies’ offense was dominated by an opposing pitcher early. But this time, they did not heat up late.
On Sunday, Rangers starter Patrick Corbin took a no-hitter into the fourth inning. On Monday, Reds starter Andrew Abbott had a perfect game until the fifth.
On Tuesday, Brady Singer matched his Cincinnati teammate by retiring the first 12 Phillies he faced. Nick Castellanos finally broke through in the fifth with a single that deflected off Elly De La Cruz’s glove, ending his 0-for-21 skid.
The Phillies’ best chance of getting on the board against Singer came in the top of the sixth, when the game was still close. Catcher Rafael Marchán singled and advanced to third on a double from Trea Turner, but Kyle Schwarber grounded out to strand both.
A 28-minute rain delay interrupted the six and seventh innings, and the Phillies and Reds played the final three frames through rain and intermittent lightning flashes.
With the Phillies down to their final out in the ninth, Bryce Harper spoiled the shutout by crushing a home run to right field.
“I’d like to get something going earlier, but those are just the ebbs and flows of the season,” Thomson said. “You just got to grind through it, and hopefully tomorrow we come out and we score five in the first three.”
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But the main concern for the Phillies is finding a way to stop Suárez’s current second-half trend. He said his back and shoulder are not bothering him as they have in the past. Even so, Thomson is considering options to give him more rest.
Up in Buffalo, N.Y., on Tuesday night, Aaron Nola threw 84 pitches in a rehab outing for triple-A Lehigh Valley, striking out 11. If he recovers well on Wednesday, he could rejoin the team soon. Thomson said moving to a six-man rotation or bumping Suárez’s next start could be on the table.