Ranger Suárez managed to help the Philadelphia Phillies secure a 2-1 win against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night, despite not having his best performance on the mound. The left-handed pitcher gave up 10 hits over five innings but allowed just one run, helping keep the Phillies in contention.
Key defensive plays and timely hitting made the difference for Philadelphia. Alec Bohm’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning put the Phillies ahead. Suárez repeatedly worked out of difficult situations, including a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and several double-play opportunities that ended threats from Atlanta hitters.
In recent starts, Suárez had shown dominant form with high strikeout numbers and few baserunners allowed. On Friday, he relied more on situational pitching and defense. It was only his second career start where he surrendered at least 10 hits in fewer than seven innings but allowed no more than one run—a feat matched by all other pitchers in Phillies history combined.
Alec Bohm reflected on how games like this are often decided by small margins, especially late in the season: “Nights like last night aren’t typically what you’re going to see in a playoff-type of game, right? So being able to just stay in a game all the way through the end and find a way to win in the end — play good defense, pitch well and get timely hits — that’s kind of what playoff baseball is about.”
Manager Rob Thomson made a key late-game substitution for defensive purposes, putting Harrison Bader into right field for Nick Castellanos with a one-run lead in the ninth inning. “He makes near the last out in the eighth inning, so we put Bader in because he’s the best defender we’ve got,” Thomson said.
The Phillies are dealing with limited rotation depth following Zack Wheeler’s season-ending surgery and trading away Mick Abel at the deadline. Top prospect Andrew Painter has struggled recently at Triple-A Lehigh Valley after showing promise earlier this season; his most recent outing saw him give up six runs over six innings, bringing his ERA to 5.36 across 19 starts.
“It’s really the same story. Stuff was excellent. Changeup was excellent,” Thomson said about Painter’s performance. ” … But it’s just fastball command, that’s really what it comes down to. But the stuff is there.”
With rosters set to expand soon, Philadelphia may call up another starter to help manage their rotation workload down the stretch. Since May 3, Suárez has thrown 131 innings—tied with Cristopher Sánchez for second most among MLB pitchers during that period—and Jesús Luzardo has also shouldered a heavy load after pitching far fewer innings last year.
Thomson commented on potential plans for giving starters extra rest: “If we needed a day, we could always do a bullpen day, especially when we add whoever we add in September,” he said. “So, we’ve got some options.”
The manager emphasized Suárez’s ability to compete even without his best pitches: “Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he can manufacture outs just by pitching and keeping people off-balance and reading swings,” Thomson said of Suárez. “He’s really intelligent that way.”
