Ranger Suárez was pitching like it was early 2024 as the Philadelphia Phillies took down the Cleveland Guardians 7-1 on Saturday evening. The Phillies and Guardians, holding identical 23-16 records, will now go onto Sunday Night Baseball ready to battle for the series victory.
Another strong outing for Suárez
Ranger Suárez looked like his old self on Saturday as he shut down the Guardians’ offense through seven innings of action. He allowed only three hits and one walk on the day.
José Ramírez was two of those baserunners with a single and a walk against Suárez. In the bottom of the first, Ramírez reached base but was quickly shot down on an attempted steal of second base.
With a pop time of 1.81, Realmuto had Ramírez dead to rights with Bryson Stott completing the tag. Realmuto nearly got a Ramírez a second time in the bottom of the seventh, but an inconclusive replay review upheld the original call of safe on the field. Ramírez was the sole Guardians runner to reach second base on Suárez.
Suárez’s outing is the first time the left-hander has pitched seven innings in a ballgame since May 21, 2024. He only needed 82 pitches to do so.
Phillies Offense stays hot in Cleveland
Opposite of Suárez, Tanner Bibee pitched a strong performance for the Guardians. The right-hander threw seven innings allowing only five hits against the Phillies offense.
After three scoreless frames, the Phillies scored their lone run against Bibee on a single to left field by Kyle Schwarber. The single, scoring Trea Turner from third, marked Schwarber’s 45th-consecutive game reaching base. Schwarber is now 11 games away from tying Mike Schmidt’s mark for the franchise record at 56 games. Should Schwarber eclipse Schmidt, all eyes will be on the Major League on-base record of 84 games set by Ted Williams in 1949.
The offense then came alive in the top of the eighth inning, scoring critical insurance runs with two outs on the inning. Turner started the rally with a two-out single before Bryce Harper slugged a two-run home run into center field. Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos then followed suit with back-to-back singles putting fresh runners on the bags.
Max Kepler then plated both Schwarber and Castellanos with a double off of the wall in left field. After a walk from Realmuto, Brandon Marsh scored Kepler on a single into right field. Edmundo Sosa, who led off the inning with a strikeout, kept the hitting train alive with a single of his own into right field, scoring Realmuto. A strikeout from Bryson Stott ended the inning, but not before the Phillies took a commanding 7-0 lead over the Guardians.
Bullpen closes it out
After a solid outing from Suárez and an offensive burst in the top of the eighth, the Phillies turned the ball over to Carlos Hernández. Hernández walked Jhonkensy Noel to begin the inning, but then retired the next three batters to close out a quiet bottom of the eighth.
Joe Ross, after allowing two runs in one inning of action Friday evening, had the chance to right his ship with a clean outing in the bottom of the ninth. After a full-count leadoff walk to Steven Kwan, Ross forced a fielder’s choice to Gabriel Arias for the first out of the inning. Ramírez then worked his second base hit of the day, a double just out of Marsh’s reach in center field, moving Arias to third.
Carlos Santana then hit a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning, scoring Arias from third. Working the final out off of Kyle Manzardo, a line out to right field, Ross closed the book on the day allowing one run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Phillies claimed the 7-1 victory.
Multi-hittin’ season
Four Phillies batters recorded multi-hit days with Turner, Schwarber, and Marsh notching a pair of hits. Harper, meanwhile, was a triple short of the cycle on the day. Realmuto also reached base twice on the day with a hit and a walk.
While all eyes are on Schwarber’s on-base streak, Turner, is putting together a 15-game on-base streak of his own. Among those 15 games, Turner has recorded at least two base hits in nine of those contests, pumping up his batting average to a team-leading .320 thus far.
You can seldom find a cold bat in the Phillies’ lineup right now. Over the month of May, the Phillies have averaged 5.38 runs per game, second-best to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League.
Sunday Night Baseball up next
The Phillies will return to action for a bout of Sunday Night Baseball as they close out their series with the Guardians Sunday evening.
Zack Wheeler will look to secure the Phillies’ fifth-straight series victory as he goes against the Guardians’ Luis L. Ortiz. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM on ESPN.
Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
