Suarez shows signs of fatigue as All-Star break approaches originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
ATLANTA – He pitched nearly twice as many innings as he had to this date a year ago. Is Ranger Suarez feeling any fatigue?
After winning 13 of Suarez’s first 14 starts through mid-June, the Phillies lost three of their last four, falling 5-1 to the Braves on Saturday night to tie the weekend series at one game apiece.
“I think there’s probably a little bit of fatigue and I think that’s there in all of our players,” coach Rob Thomson said. “But I don’t think it’s a concern. None of the numbers we measure really stand out to us.”
Suarez was coming off his worst start of the season — six runs on 10 hits in 4⅔ innings against the lowly Marlins, with no strikeouts for the first time in his career — and the Braves pounced on him on Saturday morning. Jarred Kelenic doubled down the right-field line, scored on a single by Ozzie Albies and Atlanta led the rest of the way, with Marcell Ozuna hitting a two-run homer after strikeouts by Austin Riley and Matt Olson.
Suarez retired seven straight after Ozuna’s homer, then escaped a jam in the fourth inning with two runners in scoring position and no one out by striking out Sean Murphy and Adam Duvall to set up a late-inning pop-up.
But Albies did more damage in the fifth, drilling a two-run home run to left field off a Kelenic single. The Braves second baseman is 5-for-8 in the series with two home runs, four RBI and five runs scored.
Suarez has one more game before the break – Friday at home to Atlético – and will almost certainly be part of the All-Star Game after his fantastic first half. But it wouldn’t be surprising if he was dealing with a slightly tired arm.
“No, I don’t think that’s it,” he said. “Three or four bad pitches today and they hit and scored the runs. I feel healthy. I think that’s important right now.”
He has 108 innings pitched this season. At this point a year ago, he was 56⅓. The most Suarez has played to this date is 79. And remember, he also had the first full spring training load of his career this year.
Suarez (10-3) allowed five runs in five innings. His ERA has increased over his last two starts from 1.83 to 2.58.
“When you have bad games, it’s normal to worry about your performance and that’s what happened today,” Suarez said when asked about showing some frustration on the mound. “When the team is behind by so many runs, it feels like you’re knocked down and it’s hard to get back up. I’m not giving them a fighting chance by keeping the game close. about.
“I had three bad games in a row and I started to worry a little about that. It’s just the location of the pitch, that’s what I mean when I say I care about the next performance. in the place of my field to the next.”
Trea Turner drove in the Phillies’ only run with an RBI single in the top of the third against rookie Spencer Schwellenbach after flying into the wall in right center in the first inning. The All-Star shortstop is 12-for-27 (.444) over the last six games with four homers, 11 RBI and 11 runs scored.
The Phillies ran out of extra-base hits for the fifth time this season and the first since May 26 at Colorado. They are 58-31 with a nine-game lead over the Braves entering the series finale at 1:20 p.m. Sunday.
Rookie Michael Mercado will make his second career start, while the Braves turn to right-hander Reynaldo Lopez. Lopez has a 1.83 ERA that would lead all of baseball if he met the one-inning-per-team-game requirement, but he has three innings left.
Sunday should be the Phils’ last game without Kyle Schwarber (groin strain), who is on track to return to the lineup on Tuesday when he is first eligible to be activated from the injured list.
The Phillies will find out after the series ends how many of their players made the National League All-Star team as pitchers and reserves. Suarez, despite his recent problems, should still be part of the team.
“After these two exits, I don’t think so,” he joked, “but whatever happens, I accept it. My main focus for this year is staying healthy throughout the season. doing this, and I just want to stay healthy year round. We have our goals defined.”
