As the clock ticked past 1:00 p.m. in South Philadelphia, Phillies fans were flocking to their seats in anticipation of Sunday’s game. Players were warming up. Public address announcer Dan Baker was making his usual pre-game announcements under the shade of an umbrella.
All of a sudden, the Phillies’ grounds crew began to tarp home plate and the pitcher’s mound. They also began to unspool the infield tarp. Within minutes of covering the field, the sky opened up to a torrential downpour. Not even an hour later, the sky was a bright blue over Citizens Bank Park as the grounds crew removed the tarp once again. At 2:16 p.m., 41 minutes behind schedule, Ranger Suárez threw the first pitch to begin the contest.
Following the delay, Suárez struggled as the Phillies dropped their series finale against the Los Angeles Angels 8-2. Suárez allowed six earned runs while the Phillies’ bats failed to get much out of the infield on the day.
Early trouble for Suárez
On the first pitch of the day, Zach Neto lined a ball to Monty’s Angle where an outstretched Brandon Marsh made the play just before colliding with the wall. Suárez allowed two baserunners on the inning, including a changeup inside that hit first baseman Nolan Schanuel. Schanuel would stay on the base path but would be removed following the inning. Suárez punched out Mike Trout and Jo Adell to get out of the inning.
Suárez found himself in some more trouble in the second inning. After recording the first out to Jorge Soler, he allowed three straight singles to Logan O’Hoppe, Luis Rengifo, and Kevin Newman, loading the bases as the top of the lineup came up for the Angels. Neto then hit the fourth-straight single into right field, scoring O’Hoppe, to give the Angels the lead. After a pop fly for the second out, Suárez had a full count against Trout. He threw a sinker to the high-and-inside quadrant of the plate that was called a ball, walking Trout and allowing a second run across the plate.
Taylor Ward, who has hit home runs in both games thus far this series, then slapped a bases-clearing double into left-center field, closing out a five-run inning for the Angels. Suárez needed 54 pitches to get through two innings of work, allowing more than three runs in a game for the first time since May 4.
Marsh giveth and Trout taketh away
Brandon Marsh looked to start turning the tide in the Phillies’ favor with a leadoff single in the bottom of the second. Otto Kemp and Max Kepler each grounded out, moving Marsh to third base with two outs. Rafael Marchán then found a gap up the middle, scoring Marsh on a single into center field.
After a quiet third inning, however, the Angels took Marsh’s run back. Neto led off the fourth with a single before moving to third on a single from Wade. Mike Trout then hit a sacrifice fly into right field for the 997th RBI of his career as the Angels maintained a 6-1 lead over the Phillies.
A tale of two Suárez
Ranger Suárez has been in an elite category since his first start of the season on May 4. Sunday afternoon, he just did not have it. In 4.1 innings of work, Suárez allowed 13 baserunners on eight hits, four walks, and a hit batter. Six runs scored, the most runs allowed in a game since May 4.
Going into today’s game, Suárez had allowed only 13 runs over 80 innings pitched in his 12 starts since May 4. Looking at solely May 4 and today’s start, Suárez matched that number in a matter of 8.0 innings pitched.
“He couldn’t find his change-up,” said Rob Thomson post-game on Suárez’s struggles. “So not a whole lot of swing and mess, which is unusual for him. Basically it was his command.”
Of Suárez’s 100 pitches, 42 were balls on the day.
Joe Ross entered in relief of Suárez. After recording a clean two outs to get out of the fifth, Ross allowed a solo home run to Wade, his second of the year, in the top of the sixth. Following the home run, Trout singled into center field. Two batters later, Soler blooped a single into shallow right field, just past a running Bryson Stott. Trout took off for third, barely beating a throw from Stott to the bag. He was originally called out on the field, but a replay review confirmed Trout’s diving hand reached third base before he was tagged by third baseman Otto Kemp. Ross managed to get out of the inning without any additional harm.
Kemp hits one out and lets one go
The Phillies had grounded out 11 times through the fifth inning as José Soriano dealt from the mound. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Kemp was the one to finally show some good contact against the right-hander, slugging an 86.2 mph knuckle curve into the seats in right field, scoring the second run of the day for the Phillies.
In the top of the seventh, however, Kemp allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base on an error. Newman hit a grounder one step to Kemp’s left. Kemp rushed his motion, resulting in the ball bobbing away for Kemp’s second error of the day. Neto then reached base on a fielder’s choice getting Newman out, and would later score in the inning. Seth Johnson, who earned the win yesterday while allowing one earned run, allowed the unearned run to score today in his second straight day out of the bullpen.
Three quiet innings to drop the series
In the final three innings of action, the Phillies failed to put together any form of rally. A walk from Stott in the seventh was the last baserunner the Phillies mustered. Overall on the day, the Phillies had six hits in 32 at bats. Bryson Stott worked the lone two Phillies walks of the day. Bryce Harper and Max Kepler combined to go 0-for-8 on the day striking out a combined three times. Kepler’s batting average is down to .204 on the year.
Incoming from Boston
After dropping their first series of the second half, the Phillies will look to rebound as the Boston Red Sox come to town. Zack Wheeler will face off against Walker Buehler in the 6:45 p.m. series opener Monday night.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
