Rescue Ranger — Suarez huge in return as Realmuto, offense surges against Royals originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
KANSAS CITY — There haven’t been many positive takeaways on this six-game road trip but a silver lining has finally appeared — and it’s a doozy — Ranger Suarez.
The 28-year-old left-handed pitcher was reinstated from the 15-day injured list prior to Saturday’s game and picked up right where he left off (maybe even better than that).
After missing just over four weeks due to lower back soreness, Suarez approached the mound as he always does — cool, calm and collected. He was one of the many factors in the Phillies’ 11-2 win at Kauffman Stadium to even up their series against the Royals.
His return and hopeful reset to where the first-time All-Star was before the break is crucial as the calendar soon turns to September. The bumps in the rotation have slowly started to smooth out, and while the offense is in the process of doing the same, starting pitching should help calm the storm.
Aside from Taijuan Walker’s next start — which is up in the air — having Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez and Suarez in rhythm again should ease the mind.
Even if it’s just a little.
In five innings of work, Suarez gave up one run on four hits, struck out six and walked one. He ended his night after 72 pitches, 46 for strikes.
When asked about how he thought the outing went: “As expected. I felt good every inning as the game went on. I’m just happy being able to contribute to a win today.”
In Suarez’s return, the offense had a night they desperately needed.
Nick Castellanos led off the sixth inning with what looked like a routine pop up in shallow right field, only neither outfielder Hunter Renfroe nor second baseman Michael Massey made the catch. That was quickly followed up with Bryson Stott grounding out to Massey, but the hop it took could win the award for most bizarre bounce of the season.
The Phillies should have had two outs but instead were presented with a gift that J.T. Realmuto took full advantage of.
On a 3-0 count, he hit an inside sinker to left field that carried right out of the yard. It was the club’s first home run since Sunday against the Nationals and Realmuto’s ninth of the season.
He followed that up with *another* three-run home run. Realmuto ended his night with seven runs batted in, which is a new single-game career-high.
“Just tremendous,” manager Rob Thomson said of his catcher. “The first three-run homer, everybody exhaled at that point. Seven RBIs in one game is pretty impressive. Two three-run homers.
“Our at-bats were really good tonight. The extra base hits, the hitting the ball the other way, using the entire field, that’s what you gotta do.”
They had quality pitching, the long ball and situational hitting (and maybe some luck from the Baseball Gods) — a combination that has not been around the club in quite some time.
The top of the order had their best performance on the road trip, combining for six hits and three RBI. Kyle Schwarber had a pair of doubles, Trea Turner three singles and Bryce Harper doubled for the second night in a row.
Stott quietly tied his career-high in hits with four — he accomplished the feat twice in the 2023 season.
“It feels good to put good swings on the ball and good things happen after the swing,” Stott said. “Feels like it’s just been a lot of solid contact and they catch it. Everyone always says they even out and I hip the lip of the grass and it turns to a hit and that felt good. Obviously, the win felt really good.”
Everyone in the lineup aside from Alec Bohm registered at least a hit.
On deck: The Phillies will go for the series win and a chance to have a .500 road trip in Sunday’s finale against the Royals.
Kolby Allard (1-0, 3.46 ERA) gets the nod for the Phillies in his first start since August 8 in Arizona. Manager Rob Thomson wanted to give Zack Wheeler an extra day of rest but it is also beneficial as the ace now lines up for the next two series against the Astros and Braves.
The Phillies will see Seth Lugo (14-7, 3.02 ERA), a right-handed arm the club has faced often throughout his career, having spent the majority of his time with the Mets. It will be his 35th outing against the Phillies. In his 34 appearances, Lugo has an ERA of 4.58.
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