When Ranger Suarez is not on his game, it can lead to debate about what to do with him. The ideas run the gamut of logic, but most people fall on the side of either a six man rotation to give him a break or a phantom IL stint to give him a break (though that’s kind of illegal these days). When he is on his game, you can see why teams will still line up to give him a solid payday this offseason.
Today was one of those games.
Finally doing away with those annoying Nationals that seem to be giving them
trouble these days, the Phillies, led by a dominant performance by Suarez, took the series before they head north for a rather large set with the Mets. The offense did juuuuuust enough to give them a cushion, though there were some missed opportunities.
In the second inning, Rafael Marchan emerged from his team-imposed hibernation to deliver his first two RBI of the game, doubling in two runners off of Jake Irvin to give the Phillies an early 2-0 lead.
Even after that two-out double, they loaded the bases for Bryce Harper, but that opportunity fell short. In the third inning, the bases were loaded again for Marchan, this time facing Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who quickly got ahead in the count. An outstanding at bat by Marchan allowed him to walk, forcing in Alec Bohm from third and expanding the lead to 3-0.
From there, it was Suarez on cruise control. He scattered a few hits here and there, but for the most part, his offspeed was on point and kept the Nationals’ hitters off balance.
It was one of those games that gave you hope for him and the team once the playoffs begin.
Now, while Suarez was able to dominant, we were also treated to one of the two faces of Jose Alvarado. Since returning from suspension, he’s largely been fine. However, the duality of Alvarado was on display with his bad side showing up, loading the bases with no one out in the eighth thanks to what might be charitably described as sketchy control. However, candidate for team MVP Tanner Banks came in, did allow a run in exchange for a double play, then induced a fly out by CJ Abrams to prevent further damage.
In the ninth, Orion Kerkering was called on to get the save opportunity. While he did allow a home run to Luis Garcia pinch hitting, he closed out a win for the Phillies that put them on the train for New York in a good mood. The next series will be big and this series win helps.
