CINCINNATI — It wasn’t just one pitch that threw off the night for Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez, though it certainly did seem to play a big part.
After striking out Matt McLain to start the third inning, Suarez allowed consecutive singles before getting TJ Friedl to bounce into a fielder’s choice. After going 0-2 on Spencer Steer, Suarez appeared to freeze him with a sinker. The pitch appeared to be in the strike zone, so much so that Suarez made his way to within about 10 feet of catcher Rafael Marchan and home plate umpire Will Traynor.
Three pitches later, Steer hit a two-run double to plate the Reds’ first runs in what would become a 6-1 loss for the Phillies at Great American Ballpark.
That lack of a strike call may have started a bad night for Suarez, who again jawed with Traynor in the sixth, but it wasn’t the only thing that was wrong with the left-hander on this night.
In fact, things haven’t been going well for quite some time for Suarez. In his last six starts, which have composed of 35 1/3 innings, Suarez has given up 46 hits and 24 earned runs for a 6.11 ERA during that span.
“I think I could have gotten out of those innings with way less damage than we did,” Suarez said. “I think I just mentally blocked at that point and I just stopped trying to execute those pitches. I think I was just throwing the ball.”
His manager didn’t like the reaction from his pitcher too much, either.
“You got to shut that down. If it did (affect Suarez), you can’t let that happen,” Rob Thomson said. “You got to stay focused, stay composed and keep pitching. Those things are going to happen. The iPad on the bench, it just barely ticked that, but who knows how those boxes are. I don’t know if they’re accurate or not. But, that’s something you can’t control and you’ve just got to keep pitching.
“Because of his last few outings, I think he wants to do well and maybe he’s just off a little bit. But he’s got to shut that down.”
Before the game, Thomson was answering a question about the possible availability of starter Aaron Nola. Thomson said they’d have to wait on how Nola pitched and felt after starting Tuesday in Lehigh Valley, then said the organization would “have to see where Ranger is at after tonight’s game.”
Suarez insisted that he’s fine.
“I felt good,” he said. “I felt better than last time out. Overall, I felt better and look what happened. I missed a couple, that’s the game. I wouldn’t say it’s fatigue. I feel good, actually. I know I’ve had a couple of rough starts and I realize wondering if it could be fatigue, but it’s not. I just think about it as having to look back at those pitches that were missed, that I missed, and getting better at that point.”
And Nola appears ready, if not just about ready, to rejoin the team after being out since May 14. Tuesday against Buffalo, Nola pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed four hits, two earned runs. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out 11.
“He says he’s fine and he was really good the first two innings,” Thomson said of Suarez. “And then his command was off. The rest of his outing, really, he was getting ahead the first two innings. The third through the sixth, he was a lot of behind in the count, then he’s got to come in with too many pitches in the middle of the plate and he paid for it.”
Aaron Nola made his third rehab start on Tuesday night for Lehigh Valley, where he struck out 11 over 5.1 innings.
The loss snapped a four-game win streak by the Phillies, with all the wins coming at the beginning of this 10-game road trip. The only thing that slowed down Cincinnati was a 28-minute rain delay following the sixth.
After getting through the first seven batters of the game without a hitch, Suarez allowed 12 of the next 21 batters to get on base via hits or walk. There was a home run, a bunch of singles, a couple of doubles, a hit batter, a pair of walks. Pretty much any way there was to get on base, the Reds did it off Suarez, who fell to 8-6 and had his ERA climb to 3.28, the first time it’s been that high since his fourth start of the season.
“Other than fatigue, I don’t think so, because he hasn’t complained of anything,” Thomson said of what could be behind Suarez’s struggles. “That’s the only thing I can really attribute it to. We’ll see.
“Nola had a good game tonight so we’ll see how he’s feeling tomorrow. Punched out the side in the first, third and fifth. Really threw well, 84 pitches so we’ll see how he is tomorrow. We’ll go to a sixth man, or bump him (Suarez), or something.”
There’s been a lot of news surrounding the Phillies’ pitching staff of late. It was revealed last week that Zack Wheeler was having shoulder soreness, though he and the team insist he’s fine. They picked up closing sensation Jhoan Duran at the trade deadline. Veteran David Robertson made his debut with the team on Monday. Reliever Jose Alvarado will come back from his suspension in about a week and Nola seems to have completed his rehab. And now they will have to figure out what is going on with Suarez.
After winning eight of their last 10 and playing such good baseball, a dud was bound to happen at some point. That’s somewhat expected in a 162-game season. But the supposed red flag on Suarez put a damper on what was already a damp night all around. A Bryce Harper home run in the ninth, his 18th of the year, saved the Phillies from being shut out.
“I think it’s mostly about getting on track on my starts and trying to replicate whatever we did during the first half of the season,” Suarez said. “As far as the mentality, it’s more about throwing those bad starts away and trying to start fresh and be better. I feel good.”