A gem from Ranger Suarez, a resurgent night from Bryce Harper and two-out thunder in the eighth inning led the Phillies to a 7-1 win Saturday in Cleveland, evening their series with the Guardians.
The Phils jumped all over left-handed reliever Joey Cantillo in the top of the eighth with seven straight hitters reaching base as a one-run lead turned into a laugher. The first blow of the inning came from Harper, who clobbered an 89 mph, middle-in fastball to right-center for a two-run home run, his seventh of the season.
Harper’s insurance homer wouldn’t have occurred without a two-out single by Trea Turner, a multi-hit machine the last three weeks. Turner is 33-for-82 over the last 19 games, hitting .402 with 15 runs scored.
That duo also set the table for the Phillies’ first run. Turner singled in the top of the fourth, Harper doubled and Kyle Schwarber blooped a single into left field to give the Phillies a lead that remained 1-0 until the eighth.
It was the best Harper (3-for-5) has looked since mid-April. He had hit .175 over a 16-game stretch entering Saturday night but killed the ball three times, 111 mph, 107 and 103 off the bat. He and Turner accounted for six of the seven hardest-hit balls of the game.
“I’ll tell you what, man, I’m so happy we’re winning. Obviously, it’s been a grind,” Harper said on the Phillies broadcast postgame. “Day in and day out, I’m working, trying everything I can to have a better approach, see pitches in the zone and not chase the ones out of the zone. But all in all, I’m excited we’re winning, my team has my back. It’s been a grind. But it’s a long season, you play a season for a reason.”
Suarez dealt in his second start since returning from a back injury with seven rapid-fire scoreless innings. He needed only 82 pitches. Cleveland had three singles and a walk.
J.T. Realmuto neutralized one of the baserunners by throwing out Jose Ramirez on a stolen base attempt to end the first inning — and maybe again in the seventh but there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn after a lengthy review. Realmuto has once again been a force in the running game, nabbing 11 of 35 runners (31.4%), well over the league average of 22.8%.
Suarez was much sharper this time out. He cruised through the first two innings of last Sunday’s season debut but couldn’t command the ball once he was forced to pitch from the stretch. Suarez didn’t spend much time in the stretch Saturday either but looked more like the efficient, confident, quick-working pitcher he’s been for the Phillies since 2019.
The Phils (23-16) were shut out Friday night at Progressive Field, then responded by scoring seven or more runs for the ninth time in 13 games. The offensive surge has catapulted them to ninth in MLB in runs per game (4.82), neck and neck with the Mets.
The Phillies will be in the national spotlight of Sunday Night Baseball as they vie for a fifth straight series win. Who better to turn to than Zack Wheeler?
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