Phillies overcome early injury to top-flight starter, overpower Cardinals’ limping lineup (2024)

PHILADELPHIA — Turns out the show only got it backward, not wrong.

Whether it’s Sonny or not, it’s always Philadelphia so far in this series.

The Phillies opened strong against Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray, lost their starter to injury early, and finished powerfully to never let up against their visitors in a 6-1 victory Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies didn’t flinch with a sudden bullpen game. They flexed what has made them Major League Baseball’s first 40-win team. They have depth, they have patience, and they have Bryce Harper, who blistered a two-run homer in the seventh inning to exploit an error and erase any drama from the evening. This gang of entertainers from Philadelphia show no signs of slowing, let alone stopping.

For the second consecutive night, the Phillies pitchers — starter Ranger Suarez and then the parade who followed him after he bruised his hand — neutralized the top of the Cardinals’ order.

A day after getting three hits in a loss and conjuring only one at-bat with a runner in scoring position, the Cardinals had four hits going into the ninth inning Saturday. Through the first 17 innings of the weekend visit, the top four spots in the Cardinals’ lineup had combined for one hit. They were 0 for 15 with five strikeouts on Friday, and that lurched to 0 for 27 by the end of the seventh inning Saturday.

That half of the Cardinals’ lineup had struck out a dozen times.

The Phillies tagged Gray (7-3) with three runs in the first inning before the right-hander found his rhythm, but not his efficiency. Alec Bohm turned Kyle Schwarber’s leadoff walk and Harper’s one-out single into a two-run lead with a double to left field. With two outs, Nick Castellanos added an RBI double to score Bohm, and before Gray could get a third out he had allowed three runs, three hits, and two walks. Both of the walks came on four pitches.

He found his footing from there and would eventually finish with his 16th career game of at least 10 strikeouts. But it took a lot of pitches to get there. It took Gray 62 pitches to get nine outs from the Phillies. He walked another leadoff batter in the third inning and, like Schwarber in the first, that runner came around to score and reclaim the Phillies’ three-run buffer.

Nolan Arenado’s throwing error in the seventh inning prolonged an inning for lefty John King. Harper took advantage for his 14th home run of the season — a 415-foot exclamation point that carried into the second deck above right field.

Suarez leaves game, abruptly

One of the best starters in the majors this season — doing things a Phillies pitcher hasn’t done since Robin Roberts and feats a Phillies lefty hasn’t had since Steve Carlton — Suarez got two perfect innings into his start Saturday and then had to suddenly leave.

Alec Burleson’s line drive back at the pitcher to end the second inning resulted in a casual toss to first base for an out by the lefty — and an injury that forced him from the game.

The liner bruised Suarez’s left (pitching) hand, and he had to leave the game as a result of the contusion, a Phillies official said. That left the Phillies without their best starter thus far this season and their bullpen scrambling. Suarez entered the game seeking his 10th win. He already was the first Phillies pitcher since Roberts in 1952 to win nine consecutive games, and his 10-game winning streak going back to last season joined former Cardinals prospect Carlton as the only lefties in Phillies history with that many.

Suarez allowed a season-high five runs in his previous start and still his ERA only inched up to 1.75. At home, he had a 1.66 ERA in six starts.

It did not take him long Saturday to show why.

Suarez seesawed through the Cardinals’ lineup with his curveball. He struck out Jose Fermin on it in the first inning. He got ahead in counts with it in the second inning. Suarez had two strikeouts and three groundouts by the time he ended the second inning, and he was in complete command. The bruise came at just the time the Cardinals’ lineup with its run of lefties was about to come up, too.

His absence was their opportunity.

Cards strike, then strike out

The Cardinals greeted the first Phillies reliever into the fray with two quick hits and a run.

The bottom of the Cardinals’ lineup — stocked with lefties because they expected to face Suarez most of the game — had their first at-bats against right-hander Jose Ruiz. From the left side, Nolan Gorman singled. Michael Siani, the No. 9 hitter, has struggled all season against lefties, but giving a crack against a right-hander he doubled for his first hit as a big-leaguer in his hometown of Philadelphia. Siani’s one-out double into the left-field corner put Gorman on third for Masyn Winn’s sacrifice fly.

Gorman’s slide made the run happen as he went to the back edge of the plate and caught it with his extended hand — just out of reach of J.T. Realmuto’s mitt.

The Cardinals nibbled into the Phillies’ three-run lead and no longer had to contend with Suarez on the mound. The makings of a rally were there. Until they weren’t. As the Phillies shuffled to their next reliever, right-hander Spencer Turnbull, the Cardinals struck out in six of their next nine at-bats.

The Phillies pitcher was different than expected.

The results remained the same.

Wash U’s Loutos makes notable debut

It had been nearly two weeks since the Cardinals promoted Ryan Loutos to the majors and gave him a chance to make Washington University history.

It finally happened in the eighth inning Saturday.

The first Wash U alum to appear in the majors in nearly 50 years, Loutos pitched a scoreless eighth inning against the Phillies. He walked a batter and allowed a hit but got two groundouts to complete his major-league debut with a spotless ERA. An undrafted right-hander who helped the Bears to the Division III College World Series, Loutos worked briefly in the Cardinals’ front office analytics department to help them develop an app for pitching prospects. He then worked his way into becoming one, raising the velocity of his fastball and rising through the system to finally reach a big-league mound Saturday.