Phillies break nearly decade-long winless streak against Rangers originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
Of course, Phillies hitters want to do everything they can to help any of their pitchers win.
The remarkable trajectory of left-handed starter Rangers Suárez, however, did not go unnoticed by hitters.
Suárez pitched seven more strong innings in Tuesday night’s 5-2 victory over the defending champion Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park. He allowed just one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out 10. He is now 9-0.
Bryce Harper, who doubled and scored the tying run in the fourth, led off the sixth with a majestic home run to center, giving his starter an insurance run.
It was Harper who, in Suárez’s previous game, entered the dugout after the top of the fifth on Wednesday night and exhorted his teammates: ‘Let’s get him a W.’ Suárez didn’t give up an earned run, but he was trailing by a run because of some shaky defense behind him.
As if on command, the Phillies scored four times to put the game away. Harper was right in the thick of the rally with a two-run double.
“The starting pitching was great,” Harper said after Tuesday’s win. “Anytime you have confidence in your guy’s ability to go out and do his job, it also increases the confidence of the offense.
“We know that on any given night our starter is going to go out there and do his job, and we’re going to do the best we can as an offense to help them and get the runs they need.”
Even with all this, the first baseman recognizes that what Suárez is doing is special.
“You applaud him,” Harper said. “He goes there every fifth day and does his job, man. He works hard. He knows what it takes to win games and how to pitch and keep teams off balance.
“Obviously as a team we are thinking about it. For a guy to get there and go 9-0, we want him to go 10-0, 11-0 and so on.”
IN RETROSPECTIVE: On March 31, 2014, the Phillies opened the regular season in Arlington, Texas, defeating the Rangers in a 14-10 victory.
Jimmy Rollins, Marlon Byrd and Cody Asche were honored by coach Ryne Sandberg. Cliff Lee got the win despite allowing eight runs on 11 hits and one walk in his five innings.
And, by the way, it was the last time the Phillies beat the Rangers. At least that was until the streak ended on Tuesday.
They lost 12 consecutive games against Texas, the longest active losing streak of any team in baseball against any opponent. It also tied the longest streak ever between league opponents, matching the Angels’ 12-game winning streak against – yes – the Phils from 2003-17. The last time the Phillies lost more consecutive games to the same opponent was 14 against the Pirates, from August 6, 1990, to August 14, 1991.
CRAZY STAT OF THE NIGHT: Since starting the season 8-8, the Phillies have gone 27-6. That’s a winning percentage of .818. To put that into perspective, that would translate to 132 wins in a 162-game season.
The MLB record for wins in a season is 116, shared by the 1906 Cubs and 2001 Mariners.
PS This is the first time since at least 1901 that the Phillies have won 27 of 33 games.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: Alec Bohm has driven in 11 runs in his last seven games and leads the team with 44 on the season.
Bryce Harper on Bohm: “I love watching him hit. He has such a simple swing. I always tell him that if I’m going to teach my son to hit, it’s going to be like this.”
Of note: RHP Taijuan Walker (3-0, 4.91), who left his last appearance after being hit in the left big toe by a line drive, has been confirmed to start Wednesday against the Rangers at 6:40 p.m. RHP Zack Wheeler (5-3, 2.52) will pitch the series finale on Thursday at 1:05 p.m. Texas has not yet announced its starters. . .SS Trea Turner (strained left hamstring) took the field for the first time since going on the injured list on May 4 before Tuesday’s game.
“He said he felt great, he didn’t feel anything,” Rob Thomson reported, but added that Turner will not be activated until he is fully recovered. “Because if we don’t do this correctly, this could go on for years, maybe for the rest of your career. So we want to make sure we take care of it,” explained the manager.
There is no timetable for his return, but based on the original prognosis, he will be out for at least another three weeks.
