Left-Handed Letdown: Phillies Lefties Struggle in Loss to Brewers

There's been some concern of late about the way Ranger Suarez has been pitching since coming off the I.L. with back spasms. He didn't do much to quell that concern. 

Suarez was O.K. in Milwaukee, but still gave up three runs on four hits while walking three and striking out five in five innings in a 6-2 Phillies loss. It wasn't a bad start, but it also wasn't one to write home about. Two of the three guys he walked scored. He also threw a lot of pitches. He threw 104 in those five innings, that's almost 21 pitches per inning. 

On the plus side, he did generate more swing and miss than he has lately (12 total) and his fastball velocity was up a tick. 

Ranger Suárez’s velo looks pretty good tonight. But Phils are down, 2-0. pic.twitter.com/ZlAULuRDWl

— John Foley (@2008Philz) September 17, 2024

Those are important aspects to him getting back to the guy he was in the first half of the season, but time is running out before the playoffs. Suarez will only make two more starts before October arrives and needs to have more positive than negative. 

Suarez got through the first two innings without much trouble, but in the third inning things started to go a bit off path. 

With one out, he walked Jackson Chourio then gave up a single to Blake Perkins and a double to William Contreras, and suddenly it was 2-0 Milwaukee.

Then in the bottom of the fourth, he walked Rhys Hoskins to lead off the inning, gave up a double to Sal Frelick and then Hoskins scored on a sac fly by JoeyOrtiz.

The only other notable aspect of the game for Suarez was him taking a hard spill when trying to field a ground ball. 

Suarez lost his footing when he tried to plant his left cleat in front of the mound, and fell hard, and took a lot of the weight on his left hand and wrist. He sat on the ground holding it for a minute. Both Rob Thomson and an athletic trainer hustled onto the field to check on Suarez. He got up, shook it off, took a couple of practice pitches and appeared to be OK and got out of the inning. 

Still, it was a start that left confidence that he can get back to being the guy who started the season 10-2 with a 1.83 ERA, lacking. Two starts is enough time to regain that confidence, but it has to begin with the next start - which will be Saturday afternoon in New York against the Mets. 

Uh Oh, Alvy

There's been a lot of praise heaped on Jose Alvarado for the way he's pitched in the last few weeks since returning from his time away from the team for personal reasons - and rightfully so. 

But on Monday, the bloom fell off that rose. 

After a Brandon Marsh homer trimmed the Brewers lead to 3-1, Alvarado came on in the sixth inning and struggled to miss bats again. 

  It started to go south as it often does when it goes bad for Alvarado - with a leadoff walk. 

After two quick outs, Alvarado got ahead of Joey Ortiz, but then threw a 1-2 cutter in a bad spot - right over the plate - and Ortiz tripled to score a run.

It's been a scorching month for Joey O 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YNfolvAowy

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 17, 2024

He went 1-2 on the next batter, Brice Turang, as well - and then gave up a single on a 98.8 MPH sinker that made it 5-1. That pretty much was the ballgame, but another Phillies lefty - Tanner Banks - gave up another run in the seventh inning as he too gave up a single, a walk, three stolen bases and a sacrifice fly, locking up the trifecta of disappointing left-handed pitchers for the Phillies in this game. At least their fourth lefty - Tyler Gilbert - gave then a scoreless inning, although he too gave up a hit and a stolen base. 

Missed Opportunities

The offense didn't really help the lefties out all that much. The Phillies had 11 hits, but only scored two runs. They missed out on some chances when guys were in scoring position. 

• Marsh struck out with a runner on second and two out in the second.
• Cal Stevenson was thrown out at third base trying to get there on a single in the third and Turner was later caught stealing in the same inning, basically taking the bat out of Bryce Harper's hands with guys on base. 
• In the sixth, Kyle Schwarber and Turner each hit a single and it looked like the Phillies had the makings of a rally. But the Brewers turned to their lefty in the pen - former Phillie Hoby Milner - and he got Harper to fly out on the first pitch, struck out Nick Castellanos and got Alec Bohm to ground out. 
• The Phillies started the seventh with the first two guys on base as well, but Brandon Marsh popped out, Kody Clemens flew out and after an RBI single by Schwarber, Turner flied out, as only one baserunner scored. 
• Clemens flew out to end the game with a runner on second.

 If they don't run themselves out of an inning in the third, or get another run or two in the sixth and seventh, there was a chance this would be a different outcome. Instead, the Phillies fell to 90-60 and the magic number stayed at five to won the N.L. East.