Phillies 3, Diamondback 2: A Quality Win in South Philly

Friday night started as a warm one at Citizens Bank Park, as the Phillies hosted the Diamondbacks to kick off their weekend series. A pitcher’s duel led to a low-scoring affair that saw Philadelphia defeat Arizona 3-2. It wasn’t a pitcher’s duel in the traditional sense of two aces going at it to determine whose mettle is stronger. It looked more like who could survive the longest without getting caught.

Jesús Luzardo (3-0, 1.94 ERA) didn’t look his normal self, but gutted his way through the early innings to survive 5.1 while throwing 95 pitches. Merrill Kelly (3-1, 4.06 ERA) cruised through five despite giving up a run in the first and not having his best stuff either. Good at-bats, good players, and great moments throughout led to what felt like one of the better wins in the Phillies’ season. Let’s break it down.

Luzardo guts one out

The Phillies’ big off-season acquisition has pitched up to that moniker all season. He’s pitched so well, in fact, that his ERA went up despite only allowing two runs on the day. Arizona put together some quality at-bats against the left-hander early, and he only had one clean inning on the night. I asked manager Rob Thomson about his starter’s outing and how he gutted it out despite having 68 pitches through three innings:

“You’re right, he just goes out and competes,” Thomson said. “Second and third innings were long innings. I think he was at 68 (pitches) after three (innings) and you’re getting a little worried, ya know. You’re hoping you get 5 out of him and you get almost 6. He’s a gamer.”

Luzardo struck out six on the day, only surrendering one walk and scattering nine hits on 95 pitches (63 strikes). Diamondback hitters forced the Peruvian pitcher to hurl 27 pitches in the second inning, once again putting ducks on the pond. After Phillies hitters were retired in order on just 12 pitches, Corbin Carroll led off the third with a 10-pitch at-bat.

A long inning, short turnaround, and immediately a battle – one that he won with a strikeout looking on a borderline pitch, depending on where you look for that sort of data. He would still allow some traffic, but picked up another K before closing the third with a ton of pitches, and no runs against. I asked Thomson if he saw anything specific that led to some of the struggles in the early frames:

“They put some good at-bats on him, for one,” the Phillies manager explained. “He may have been overthrowing a little bit…You got first and second in the first inning and punched out the next three. So those are some pretty intense pitches that he’s throwing, and maybe he got into that groove and missed the zone a little bit. But after the third he was really efficient – he was really good.

Bullpen Bounce Back

Philly had to go to the bullpen earlier than they would have liked. As a result, Thomson was forced to use four men tonight, including all three lefties. Matt Strahm came in to close out the sixth. He was followed by Tanner Banks, Jordan Romano, and José Alvarado, who all had clean innings without allowing a base runner. The bullpen combined for 3.2 IP, allowing just one hit and two strikeouts. Banks got the win, Alvarado got the save, and the group extended the bullpen’s scoreless inning streak to 11 innings.

Thomson was asked about his relief corps’ performance as of late after the win:

“Well they’re finding out about themselves. Just settling in and getting in at the right moments, and feeling good about themselves. I think we taxed them a little bit early and maybe they’re getting the proper rest right now. They’re throwing real well.”

Rob Thomson on the bullpen’s recent success: pic.twitter.com/RpPnCEkku4

— Kyle Fisher (@KyleFisher45) May 3, 2025

Phillies Come Through in the Clutch

Merrill Kelly had been cruising through the beginning of the game, with Philly’s offense only mustering two more base runners against him after scoring a run in the first on a Kyle Schwarber double that plated Trea Turner. Kelly came out for warm-ups before the bottom of the sixth, but motioned to the dugout. After a meeting with the trainer and manager, Torey Lovullo, he left the game with what was eventually confirmed to be cramping – a recurring issue he has dealt with in recent years.

While they didn’t do damage immediately, the early-season trope of the Phillies being lean offensively against starters but demolishing bullpens continued. When left-hander José Castillo entered, Philadelphia hitters must’ve seen something they loved. That inning, it was like the ball was on a tee – and they stepped up ready to drive it far. Schwarber deposited the first pitch of the inning into the right field stands to tie the game at two. Castellanos flied out to dead center, mere feet from going back-to-back – also on the first pitch. Kepler decided to wait a few pitches, then crushed one even deeper to right to give the Phillies a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

While they didn’t score again, J.T. Realmuto gave fans another deep drive in the inning. The fans were woken up and would stay up the rest of the game.

Ro-jas, Ro-jas, Ro-jas!

Rob Thomson told reporters prior to the game that Johan Rojas was feeling sore, so he wanted to give him the day off. He assured us it had nothing to do with the unnecessary stretch of a double into a triple in the ninth inning of last night’s loss to the Nationals. He eventually entered the game – whether it had something to do with Cal Stevenson getting picked off and dropping a fly ball that led to a run or not is unconfirmed – in the eighth inning.

In typical fashion of the baseball gods, the first two batters flew out to the new center fielder, who handled it with ease. The ninth inning is where things got interesting.

Rojas ranged far to his right, from right-center field to left-center field, at full speed to track down a fly ball off the bat of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. With no chance to slow his momentum, Rojas crashed hard into the wall. In a stunning turn of events from how fans responded to the center fielder early in the season, the 40,133 in attendance rained down chants of “Ro-jas! Ro-jas! Ro-jas!,” acknowledging what the young ball player did by putting his body on the line in such a close game. It’s hustle like this that can make fans fall in love with you, and help you avoid criticism piling up when you aren’t performing at your best.

After the game, reporters asked him how he felt after the crash:

“I feel fine. Luzardo threw a great game, the bullpen did a great job, and the guys hit the ball well too. I feel fine – the best, because we win.”

And win they did. Philly moves to 18-14 on the season. Game 2 against the Diamondbacks is tomorrow at 6:05 pm. Brandon Pfaadt (8-1, 2.78 ERA) will toe the rubber for Arizona, while Aaron Nola (0-5, 5.40 ERA) steps in for Philadelphia. You can check out more about that matchup here.

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images