Prior to the first pitch of Friday night’s game between the Braves and Phillies, the sky over Citizens Bank Park looked like it was ready to burst. Fans were expecting rain and while the weather held off, the dark clouds over South Philly were a bad omen – a sign of things to come as Atlanta’s offense made it rain against Philadelphia pitching all night. Braves starting pitcher, Reynaldo López, continued his dominant season with minimal resistance, and the Braves beat the Phillies 7-2 to even up the series. Let’s get into it.
López dominates Philly again
Reclamation project turned star, López has been a surprise this season. But no one, especially the Phillies, should be surprised by what he did against them last night. Friday was the third time the 30-year-old faced Philadelphia this season, and Friday was in line with his prior performances. Here’s the pitching lines for Atlanta’s right-hander vs. Philly this season:
- July 7: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K
- August 20: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K
- August 30 (last night): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K
That’s good for a 1.06 ERA vs. the top of the National League East in 2024. López lowered his season ERA down to 2.00 – best among starting pitchers with at least 10 starts this year. Phillies hitters looked off-balance all night. The one run he surrendered was a much-needed home run off the bat of Bryson Stott. Philly battled a bit more this time around, but the results weren’t there. I asked manager Rob Thomson post-game about his thoughts on the Braves starter and his team’s performance against him:
He’s got good stuff… I thought our at-bats tonight were better than the other two games and we had a lot less chase. I thought we put good at-bats on him, got his pitch count up and got him out after six.“
It is true, 96 pitches through six innings for a guy who was cruising is a lot. Still, the Phillies will have to crack the López code before they face him in October.
Ranger danger?
Phillies starter Ranger Suárez spent about a month on the injured list with lower back tightness before returning on August 24 to face the Royals. Suárez was on a pitch count in that first start back and prior to Friday night’s game, Thomson confirmed his pitcher would be limited again. The limit was not made clear at the time, but after going just four innings and throwing 78 pitches – reporters had to check with the Phillies manager on Ranger’s status. After confirming he was healthy, Thomson expanded on the plan:
“The plan tonight was to repeat what he did last time as far as pitch count. So I think it was 72 last time, 78 today, something like that. So now we can build him. So now we can go to 90-95 pitches.”
Danger avoided. Suárez’s performance started off amazing – he struck out the first five batters of the game! Per Elias, he’s the first Phillies pitcher to do so in a game since Cole Hamels did so back on July 22, 2010 vs. the Cardinals. With the hot start of both pitchers, this had the makings of a true pitchers duel. Then came the third frame.
Public enemy No. 1 in Philadelphia this weekend, Orlando Arcia, sent one into the stands to start the inning – his first of two on the evening. Before the fans could settle down and halt their booing, catcher Sean Murphy made it back-to-back long balls to give the Braves a 2-0 lead. Despite sending just five hitters to the plate, they made Ranger throw 26 pitches – matching his total through the first two frames. Another seven dug into the batter’s box in the fourth, and the Braves tacked on two more runs on 24 more pitches, ending Suárez’s night.
In Conclusion
Philly got a little chase happy, striking out 10 times Friday. That makes six of their last 11 contests where they struck out 10+ times. Topper didn’t seem too worried about that when I asked him what he’s seeing from the team over that stretch. “There are a few games in there, especially in the Atlanta Series, that, there was a lot of chase,” Thomson said. “Since then, we’ve cut down on our chase. But we’ve seen some really good pitching.“
Philly’s offense seemed like they might have taken a deep breath once Atlanta took López out of the game. J.T. Realmuto greeted the Atlanta ‘pen with a deep ball to give Philadelphia their second run of the game. That ended up being the only additional damage the Phillies could muster.
There were bright spots, however. Despite Harper telling Todd Zolecki of MLB.com that he’s been dealing with some nagging injuries in his right elbow and wrist, the former MVP had three hits yesterday, including two doubles – the first time he’s had two extra-base hits in game in over two weeks.
Players and fans knew this series would be tough – they prepared for it. With two games left, Philly has their top starters going with a chance to take the series and avoid losing more of their lead against the team chasing them for the National League East pennant.
Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
