Another ace performance from Ranger as the wins keep coming
After a textbook-definition “get-right” week in which they swept through perhaps the two worst teams in baseball, the Phillies looked to carry the momentum of a six-game winning streak into a matchup with a team much closer to their weight class.
Three weeks to the day from the beginning of their last series against the Reds – the one that saw Cincinnati take two of three amidst the backdrop of never-ending rain, Bryce’s three-homer game, and an impossibly stupid rumor about a made-up wedding – the Phillies looked like a completely different team. Ranger Suarez dominated as the offense had another big night, giving the Phils a 7-0 victory to kick off their week.
After the first, it looked like we might see a pitcher’s duel with Reds starter Hunter Greene setting down the top of the Phillies’ order with twelve straight strikes. In the bottom of the frame, Ranger made quick work of the Reds, wrapping up the inning with just seven pitches. Spencer Steer helped the cause by striking out and committing interference as JT Realmuto attempted to catch Stuart Fairchild stealing, a double play for all intents and purposes.
In the top of the second, a hard liner to left-center by Alec Bohm and a Texas-leaguer down the first base line from Nick Castellanos put runners on the corners for Bryson Stott, whose sacrifice fly scored Bohm to put the Phillies on the board. Bohm’s aggression in going from first to third on Castellanos’ blooper was key and Dusty Watham certainly deserves some credit there. Kody Clemens, who joined the big-league club this morning after Bryce Harper went on paternity leave, smoked a hard lineout to right to end the threat but it wouldn’t be his last hard hit of the evening…
The Phils put up another crooked number in the third after Johan Rojas scored on a Kyle Schwarber sac fly. Rojas was aboard after hitting his first triple of the season on which he clocked a speed of 29.7 ft/sec running the bases. After slashing .045/.160/.045 through his first eight games, things are really starting to click for Rojas who’s brought his line up to a solid .263/.323/.333.
Bryson Stott legged out a would-be double-play ball in the fourth scoring Bohm again after he had gotten aboard with a double. Then, after drawing a walk in the fifth, Kyle Schwarber channeled his own inner Rojas by going from first to home on a JT Realmuto double:
Incredible call by Scott Franzke here
“Kyle Schwarber, showing off that sprint speed! … Who says he ain’t fast!? Ozuna never would’ve scored.” pic.twitter.com/wvUzyHVlnJ
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) April 22, 2024
Clemens got a hold of one in the top of the ninth for a three-run shot (he went 2-for-4 in his first action of the season for the big club) and Trea Turner extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a garbage-time single but the story of the game was Mr. Rager.
Ranger Suarez followed up his previous outing – a complete game shutout – with seven innings of dominance. He allowed just two hits (one of which probably should have been ruled an error) with five strikeouts, extending his scoreless inning streak to 25 straight. As of the end of the game, his 1.36 ERA was 7th-best in baseball and his WHIP was an MLB-best 0.70. He is one of the best, if not one of the most underrated starters in baseball and he’s third in the Phillies’ rotation. Seems pretty good.
A fun Ranger stat: including tonight’s tidy 2 hours and 2 minutes of game time — the Phils’ shortest of the season — Suarez’s starts average 2:18 (compare to the team average of 2:41 and the league average of 2:40). Four of the team’s five shortest games have been started by Ranger, the chillest man alive.
Ranger Suarez flashing the leather
[via @ToddZolecki]
— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) April 22, 2024
The Phillies, owners of the longest active winning streak in MLB, will try to make it eight straight tomorrow when Christopher Sanchez faces off against the Reds’ Andrew Abbott tomorrow at 6:40.