Suárez regains rhythm en route to best outing of '23

NEW YORK -- Before facing the Mets on Tuesday night at Citi Field, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he wanted left-hander Ranger Suárez to have quality location and a good changeup.

Since coming off the injured list on May 13, Suárez had struggled, allowing 12 runs in 11 innings. But Tuesday was a different story. He looked like the pitcher who played a key role in Philadelphia's pennant-winning season last year. In fact, Suárez had his best outing of 2023 in a 2-0 loss, which marked the fifth time this season the Phillies were blanked.

Suárez pitched a season-high 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four batters. He started the game by retiring nine of the first 11 hitters he faced. But New York scored its first run in the bottom of the fourth, when Francisco Lindor led off with a home run into the left-center-field stands to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Suárez cruised after the home run and left in the seventh inning. He got two Mets batters out but walked Tommy Pham before exiting. Suárez was charged with his second run when Eduardo Escobar singled up the middle off right-hander Connor Brogdon to score Starling Marte.

“[Suárez] was fantastic. He got ahead, threw strikes, had a good feel for his changeup and threw good breaking balls,” Thomson said. “In reality, he is into the regular season -- for him. That was a really good outing against a really good hitting club.”

Unlike his previous three starts, Suárez said he felt much better on the mound. In his prior outings, he felt rushed because of the pitch timer. But Suárez came up with a game plan before Tuesday’s outing, simulating in-game scenarios in his last bullpen session. By the time the game started, Suárez found a rhythm and didn’t pay attention to the pitch timer.

“We went through at-bats,” Suárez said through interpreter Diego Ettedgui. “[For example], if I fall behind in the count, what am I going to throw? If I’m ahead in the count, what am I going to throw? It’s little things like that -- mix and match -- and we see what happens.”

While Suárez pitched well, Mets right-hander Kodai Senga was even better. Senga pitched a career-high seven innings and allowed just one hit, which came from Kody Clemens. Thomson was impressed by what he saw from Senga.

“The split -- he was throwing it for strikes early and he started to expand with it. We chased,” Thomson said.

Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos said Senga reminded him of former Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka and Angels righty Shohei Ohtani.

“They have that slow rhythmic delivery and a very explosive fastball that has a good ride,” Castellanos said. “They play [the splitter] that falls off the table, off that fastball.”

Throughout the game, the Phillies did not have a runner in scoring position, the first time that happened to them since July 17, 2016, against the Mets.

It looked like Philadelphia had a chance to tie it in the ninth inning off Mets closer David Robertson. With one out and Josh Harrison on first, it seemed to be a good time to have Bryce Harper enter the game as a pinch-hitter, but he had a full day off, according to Thomson.

Bryson Stott then grounded into a game-ending double play. Thomson acknowledged Harper has had general soreness in his right elbow, which was surgically reconstructed after the World Series.

“Harper is fine. He will play tomorrow,” Thomson said. “We wanted to give him a full day off. Don’t swing a bat.”