Ranger Suárez settles down after rough start, but suffers his first loss as the Phillies fall to the Rockies

Suárez was uncharacteristically wild, walking four batters. The Phillies offense could not dig out of a 5-0 hole.

Ranger Suárez gave up five runs (four earned) in the first two innings and then settled down to get through six on Sunday but took the loss against the Rockies.Read moreDavid Zalubowski / AP

Published May 26, 2024, 5:52 p.m. ET

DENVER — It was only fitting that a bizarre series would end with a bizarre start from Ranger Suárez. The left-hander entered Sunday’s game with a 1.36 ERA and a record of 9-0 but was uncharacteristically wild through his first two innings of the Phillies’ 5-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

In the first, he allowed a single to Brendan Rodgers and a two-run home run to Ryan McMahon. He allowed two walks in the second inning, an RBI double to Hunter Goodman, another walk, and a fielder’s choice to Rodgers that scored a run and resulted in an unearned run scoring due to a throwing error by third baseman Alec Bohm. That left the Phillies trailing 5-0.

Suárez allowed a fourth walk to the next batter. His four walks tied his career high for most in a start (Sept. 21, 2023, in St. Louis). But then, in the third inning, he made an adjustment and quickly turned things around.

“I think in the first few innings I was trying to be too fine,” Suárez said. “Things weren’t going my way. During the third inning I tried to throw the ball and not do too much with my pitches.”

The change in approach worked. Suárez retired Kris Bryant, Brenton Doyle, and Sean Bouchard on a strikeout, a line out, and a strikeout. At the beginning of the fourth inning, Elehuris Montero hit an 110-mph liner toward the mound that missed Suárez’s head by only an inch or two. Initially, it seemed like he was rattled. Suárez lay on his back in the grass, staring up at the sky for a few moments, and was looked at by a trainer.

But after he got up, he proceeded to retire his next eight hitters, five of them on strikeouts. Suárez finished his day with nine.

“I’m happy to be here, talking to you guys now,” Suárez said of the high-speed comebacker. “It’s a part of the game. Thank God for another day of life.”

It was an impressive turnaround and an important one, given the state of the Phillies’ bullpen. Any one of the Phillies’ starters could go seven innings on a given night, but manager Rob Thomson did not get that kind length from them in this series. He used long man Spencer Turnbull on Saturday night, so he was unavailable on Sunday.

But thanks to Suárez’s outing, Thomson needed to use two only relievers: Orion Kerkering and Seranthony Domínguez, each of whom pitched a scoreless inning. The Phillies will have most of their bullpen available for the series in San Francisco.

“[Suárez] found his groove after the first two, and he did his thing,” said Brandon Marsh. “But as an offense, we’ve just got to try to give him a little bit more.”

The Phillies lineup did not rally the way it had the night before. They were held to just two runs on five hits, with seven strikeouts. Marsh was the only player who recorded multiple hits, going 2-for-2 with a walk. J.T. Realmuto hit a single in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.

Bohm hit a run-scoring single — his 47th RBI of the season — in the fourth inning to put the Phillies on the board, and Johan Rojas added another run with an RBI single in the fifth. Other than, it was a quiet day.

“Just a little bit weird, right?” Thomson said. “You come in here and think because of the thin air, you’re going to score lots of runs, hit home runs. We didn’t have any slug today. Just one of those days — one of those weekends, I guess.”

The lack of offense was puzzling not only because of the hitter-friendly ballpark the Phillies were playing in, but because of the pitchers they were facing. Starter Cal Quantrill (4-3, 3.53 ERA) has thrown well this season, and did a good job of mixing his pitches and keeping the Phillies off balance, but the Rockies’ bullpen is one of the worst in baseball, combining for a league-high 5.10 ERA.

Nevertheless, the Phillies couldn’t find offensive rhythm and suffered their second loss in three games. The series loss against Colorado ended a streak of 15 consecutive series which the Phillies had either won or split.

“It’s just baseball,” Marsh said of the offense. “There are a lot of games to be played. They’re a big league team for a reason, so they did their thing. We’ve just got to do better going into San Fran.”