Ranger Suárez shuts down Rockies to complete Phillies' season series sweep

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 22, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DENVER — The Phillies offense quieted somewhat in the series finale against the Colorado Rockies.

After combining for 25 runs on 46 hits across the first three games of the series, the Phillies managed just four hits on Thursday. But thanks to solid baserunning, defense and a shutdown performance from the pitching staff, that was enough for a 2-0 win.

The Phillies completed their first seven-game sweep of a season series.

Starter Ranger Suárez tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He allowed base runners in every inning except for the first, but he was able to escape trouble each time. Suárez allowed six hits and struck out six, improving to 3-0.

“I felt good,” Suárez said through a team interpreter. “Especially in this environment, in this type of stadium, where your pitches may not do the same that they usually do movement-wise, but the cutter was working well.”

Since his shaky season debut on May 4 — when Suárez gave up seven runs in 3 2/3 innings — the left-hander has turned in three quality starts.

“He was getting ahead. He kept battling,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “They put some good at-bats on him, really. But I thought his stuff was OK, getting ahead in the count, just keeping them off balance.”

The Phillies offense had some difficulty with Rockies starter Germán Márquez. Despite entering Thursday with an 8.78 ERA, Márquez had tossed seven scoreless innings against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in March.

“He’s got the fastball that rides, and then he’s got the sinker and keeps you off balance with breaking balls,” Thomson said. “He pitched well, he really did.”

This time, the Phillies scored two runs — only one earned — on four hits off Márquez. In the fourth inning, Bryson Stott reached on an error, stole second and was driven home by Bryce Harper’s opposite-field double.

They tacked on another in the seventh inning, when Kyle Schwarber scored from first on a double from Max Kepler.

While the Phillies certainly capitalized on a historically bad Rockies team that has fallen to an 8-42 record, Thomson thinks the improved overall results at the plate this week are sustainable after they leave Coors Field behind.

“They work at it every day,” Thomson said. “We’ve made some adjustments, and I think they’ll continue to do it. … A couple of timely hits with Kepler and Harp. So Harp looks good at the plate right now.”

The Phillies hit eight balls off Márquez harder than 95 mph, but only three of those fell for hits. Nick Castellanos ripped a line drive to left field in the second inning that Jordan Beck initially misread, but he recovered with a leaping grab. Schwarber had advanced past second after seeing Beck get turned around, and was doubled up at first.

The Phillies’ bullpen was lights out. Orion Kerkering took over in the seventh with two outs and runners on the corners, but needed just one pitch to end the inning. Hunter Goodman popped up a sweeper in foul territory, and Harper reached over the Rockies’ dugout railing to make the catch.

“I always trust my guys that they’re going to do the job, so [it was] not stressful at all,” Suárez said. “I always trust that they’re going to come through. And today, that just happened. The bullpen came through.”

Matt Strahm pitched the eighth. Brandon Marsh ran down a well-hit fly ball in center to strand a runner and preserve the shutout. Strahm, whose velocity has been down this season, saw his numbers start to tick up later in the inning. He touched 92.9 mph with his sinker.

Jordan Romano pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts to earn his sixth save of the season. The right-hander has not allowed an earned run in nine straight appearances, and has allowed only three hits in that span.

“The day we don’t necessarily score many runs, we really pitched well and played good defense,” Thomson said. “It was very satisfying.”