Ranger Suárez strikes out 10, Phillies offense bolsters a 5-2 win over Texas Rangers

The number of personal records that Phillies left-hander Ranger Suárez has either surpassed or tied to this point of the season is dizzying, and on Tuesday night, he added another to the list: his second career 10-strikeout game. The last time he struck out 10 batters was Sept. 10, 2023 in Miami. Doing it against the Texas Rangers, a team that has a below-average strikeout rate, is notable.

Suárez was his typical stoic self on Tuesday, in a 5-2 Phillies win over Texas. He struck out five of the first seven batters he faced, and struck out three-time Silver Slugger Award winner Corey Seager three times. As he walked off the field in middle of the seventh inning, after allowing one run on five hits, with two walks, he received an ovation.

The lefty didn’t smile, or wave. He drew a cross on his jersey, pointed to the sky, and calmly walked to the dugout. He now has a 1.36 ERA, which, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, is the third-lowest mark for a Phillies pitcher through their 10th start in franchise history. Langs said that Suárez is now one of four pitchers in MLB history to go at least 9-0 with a sub-1.50 ERA since earned runs became an official stat in both leagues in 1913, but you wouldn’t know it by how he acts.

“Of course I enjoy the games, and the results we get as a team, which is the most important thing,” Suárez said. “But by the next day, I’ve already forgotten about it, so I can focus on my next start.”

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The Rangers are dealing with their fair share of injuries right now, but they are still the reigning World Series champions. On Tuesday, they had their ace on the mound in Jon Gray, who entered the game with a 2.08 ERA. Regardless, the Phillies did a good job of grinding out at-bats against Gray — collecting two runs on four hits with three walks in five innings — and piled on later against the Rangers’ bullpen.

Bryce Harper had a particularly good night. He walked in the first inning, doubled in the fourth, and hit a towering, 422-foot home run to center field in the sixth, his 11th homer of the season. J.T. Realmuto extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the fifth, and finished his night 2-for-4.

“The top of the lineup got it done tonight,” said manager Rob Thomson. “[Harper] hit three bullets tonight. He looked really, really good. Schwarber, a couple of base hits, big RBI. Bohm’s RBIs just continue … he’s been fantastic in that four-spot.”

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Kyle Schwarber got the Phillies on the board in the third inning with an RBI single. Alec Bohm added an RBI single in the fourth.. Harper’s home run in the sixth gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead, Bohm moved into a tie with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez for the major league RBI lead at 44 with a double in the eighth to give them a 4-2 lead, and Bryson Stott hit a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies an extra insurance run, at 5-2.

Bohm is hitting .357/.375/.607 over his last seven games.

“He’s doing such a great job, man,” Harper said of Bohm. “It’s a lot of fun to see him mature as a baseball player and as a professional as well. I love watching him hit. He’s got such a simple swing. I always tell him if I teach my son how to hit, it’s going to be like that. He’s a big man and he’s got a little man’s swing. It’s just a really good swing, very easy, he can hit to all fields. He can hit for power, and average, and I tell him a lot he reminds me a lot of [Jayson Werth]. Just he way he kind of goes out there and plays. It’s a lot of fun to watch.”

With Suárez leaving the game after seven innings and 108 pitches, the bullpen inherited a 3-1 lead. It became 3-2 when Jeff Hoffman gave up a solo home run to Seager and then two singles, but Matt Strahm came in to strike out Nathaniel Lowe and strand runners on first and second.

Birthday boy José Alvarado earned the save, allowing one hit with two strikeouts in the ninth. The Phillies have now won 14 of their last 15 series openers, and are now the fifth team in baseball to win 35 of their first 49 games.

Suárez might not be thinking about the history he is making, but his teammates are.

“Obviously as a team, we’re thinking about that, right?” Harper said. “Any given night, for a guy to be able to go out there and be 9-0. We want him to get to 10-0 and 11-0 and so forth. So, we’re just going out there and like I said, trying to be the best offense we can. And obviously when our starting pitching is doing that, we have all the confidence in the world. It just raises our confidence as an offense.”