CHICAGO – There was no way the Phillies were going to let dejá vu visit Tuesday night at Rate Field. No way the hitters were going to allow it to happen and, more importantly, pitcher Jesús Luzardo.
Put those two together and it equaled out to a 6-3 win for the Phillies over the White Sox.
Last Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox, the offense gave Luzardo a 5-0 lead after four innings. But in the top of the fifth, Luzardo gave up a double, walked four and allowed a grand slam in what eventually was a 9-8 loss in 11 innings for the Phillies.
Against Chicago, the Phillies lit up White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon for six runs in the first three innings and Luzardo rid the demons of a week ago as the club improved to 61-46 on the season.
After starting the season so well, Luzardo cooled off mightily. There was talk of tipping pitches, which seemed to be corrected quickly. The real issue that has been plaguing him of late is the inability to find comfort pitching out of the stretch when runners are on base. So his lone bullpen session leading up to Tuesday’s start comprised of all pitches out of the stretch.
When he got into a little bit of trouble in the first inning, pitching coach Caleb Cotham made a visit to the mound to make sure Luzardo was finding his comfort. It worked as he got out of what turned into a bases loaded, two out jam. It helped centerfielder Brandon Marsh, who doubled and homered in the game, make a fabulous sliding catching running full speed towards right and held the runners.
“I was kicking myself last week because I could have gone into the windup and I wanted to and I second guessed it and it didn’t work out,” Luzardo said. “Today I felt like I kind of had an understanding. He wasn’t going to steal. I was aware of the situation, and I just felt more comfortable out of the windup in that role.”
Once that scare was avoided, the bats took over and Luzardo pretty much cruised through his seven innings of work, in which he allowed just two hits and no earned runs.
After a Nick Castellanos walk and a Marsh double, Max Kepler and Otto Kemp each hit sacrifice flies to score them. In the third, the Phillies got two-run home runs from Kyle Schwarber, his 37th of the year, and one from Marsh to make it 6-0. Chicago scored three in the ninth off seldom-used Daniel Robert for the final score.
The story of the night, though, was Luzardo and the hope that he’s back to finding the groove that made him so special early in the season. His performance Tuesday night delivered, even though his velocity was a bit down.
“I think a little bit of both,” said Rob Thomson on if Luzardo was tired or just throwing with less speed in order to find his spots easier. “He was really focused on pitching and not throwing. But I think everybody’s velocity was down a little bit tonight. I don’t know if it was humidity or what. It was hot out there. He could have gone out for another inning, but I wanted him to go out on a good note. I wanted to keep his pitch count under control so it all worked out.”
It did, and Marsh also had a huge role in the win with superior defense and two of the team’s six extra-base hits.
“Maybe I’m just taking advantage of the pitches I’m getting a little bit more,” said Marsh, who is now hitting .258. “Try not to miss as much of the ones over the plate that I’m looking for and not foul them off. Today was a good one and we can build off of it into tomorrow.”