Phillies glad to see the ‘real’ Seranthony Domínguez when they need him most

ATLANTA — Seranthony Domínguez and Ranger Suárez get to the ballpark early and play catch just about every day, but recently, Suárez noticed something off about his Phillies teammate. Domínguez — a notorious perfectionist — seemed to be overthinking. He wasn’t trusting his stuff.

So before Game 2 of the NL wild-card series against the Cardinals on Saturday, they had a talk about it. Suárez told him to remember that his stuff is nasty.

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“You’re too talented to doubt yourself,” Suárez said. “You’re going through a tough stretch right now, but it happens.

“We’re all going to have bad days. You’re going to get hit sometimes. You just have to keep your head high and let that go. You have to focus on pitching and executing.”

Domínguez had not looked like himself since he was activated off the 15-day injured list on Sept. 11. The right-hander allowed seven earned runs in six innings in September, after allowing eight earned runs from early April to mid-August. But on Saturday, a few hours after his talk with Suárez, he looked like the Seranthony of old, the one who could be counted on to mow down nearly any lineup.

After allowing a single to Albert Pujols with one out in the eighth inning, Jean Segura motioned toward catcher J.T. Realmuto and called for a mound meeting.

“You’re the guy here,” Realmuto told Domínguez. “You’re the guy we want — nobody else — in this situation.”

Domínguez took the ball and struck out Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. On Tuesday, manager Rob Thomson called on Domínguez to face the heart of the Braves order in the sixth inning of Game 1 of the NLDS against the Braves.

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He made it look easy, retiring Ronald Acuña Jr. on a fly ball and then struck out Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley. Domínguez needed only 10 pitches to get through the sixth inning, so he came back out for the seventh, and, again, retired all three batters he faced: Matt Olson on a groundout, William Contreras on a strikeout, and Travis d’Arnaud on a line out.

“He is more confident,” Suárez said. “We were talking about how he has to think less, and the way he has been throwing it lately, in St. Louis and here … he’s looked a lot better. That’s the real Domínguez.”

Domínguez threw only 18 pitches on Tuesday. José Alvarado came on in the eighth inning, and the Braves’ dugout was chirping at him, so he chirped back after throwing a 1-2-3 inning.

Tuesday was not a banner day for the whole bullpen, but the Phillies did get a few crucial performances. Andrew Bellatti came in for Suárez in the fourth and allowed no runs and one hit in two-thirds of an inning. After Connor Brogdon allowed two runs in just one-third of an inning in the fifth, Brad Hand secured the two outs the Phillies needed after not pitching since Sept. 20.

But the biggest contributions came from Domínguez and Alvarado, who combined for three scoreless innings from the sixth through the eighth innings.

Now that the Phillies are down a late-inning reliever in David Robertson, Domínguez and Alvarado will be looked upon to step up. Tuesday was a promising sign.

Tuesday was not a typical start for Suárez. The left-hander, who is known for his command, has never had more than four walks in a game in his career. But he had five on Tuesday.

Suárez got into two bases-loaded jams through three innings of his first postseason start. In the first, Suárez allowed a double to Acuña and walked Riley and Matt Olson to load the bases. But he threw a gutsy 3-2 curveball to induce a double play and end the inning.

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In the third inning, Suárez allowed a walk, a single, and another walk to load the bases again. But he struck out Travis d’Arnaud on a high fastball to end the inning.

It’s rare to see any emotion from Suárez, who seems unfazed by just about any situation, but as he struck out d’Arnaud, he punched his fist in the air and let a booming yell. It was a shaky performance, but, to Suárez’s credit, he was able to navigate it without allowing an influx of runs.

He finished his outing allowing one run with three hits and five strikeouts in 3⅓ innings. He threw 86 pitches and only 46 strikes.