Jesus Luzardo Bounces Back, Powers Phillies To 7-2 Win Over Cubs
Jun 11, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (44) throws a pitch against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
It’s a series win for the Phillies.
After losing three consecutive series and nine of 10 games, the Philadelphia Phillies picked up a series win, defeating the Cubs 7-2 in the finale of their three-game series.
Alec Bohm led the way for the Phillies, recording four RBI’s, two hits, one being a home run. Kyle Schwarber also hit a solo home run for his 21st of the season.
On the mound was Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo, who was coming off his worst two starts in a Phillies uniform. It was a bounce-back start for the left-hander, posting an impressive six innings of work, allowing just one run and striking out 10.
Right away, Luzardo got to work sending Ian Happ and Kyle Tucker down on strikes. He allowed a single to Seiya Suzuki, but a fly out in foul territory to right by Dansby Swanson got Luzardo out of the first quickly.
In the bottom of the first, unlike the prior two games, the Phillies got on board in their first at-bats. Trea Turner led off the inning with a single, and Schwarber walked to put two runners on for Bohm. Bohm grounded out to third to score Turner for the first run, but Nick Castellanos struck out for the second out. Max Kepler was up next and belted an RBI double in the right field gap to score Schwarber and double the Phillies’ lead.
Kepler didn’t stay at second for long as J.T. Realmuto smoked a single off Nico Hoerner‘s glove into center field to make it 3-0 Phillies.
The top of the second didn’t go as smoothly for Luzardo as the first did, as Carson Kelly and Justin Turner led the inning off with back-to-back singles. However, Luzardo battled back, picking up three consecutive strikeouts to end the inning unscathed.
Philadelphia went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second, and Chicago did the same in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third, Schwarber let everyone know what month it was with a bomb to right field.
For Schwarber, it was his 21st home run of the year, and second in the month of June. Bohm grounded out to shortstop on a hard hit grounder, and Castellanos smoked a ball off the top of the left center field fence, bouncing back into play for a triple. Kepler walked to put runners on the corners for Realmuto, but a soft ground out by the catcher got Castellanos out at the plate, and Bryson Stott flew out to end the inning.
After three innings of no runs, the Cubs finally got on the board. Luzardo picked up his eighth strikeout of the afternoon to start the inning, but allowed a double in the game by Kelly. After moving to third on a ground out, he trotted home on another double, this one from Hoerner, to make it 4-1 Phillies. Luzardo got Matt Shaw to ground out to end the inning.
While they allowed a run, the Phillies made up for it, getting two back in their half of the fourth. Otto Kemp singled to right for his first hit of the afternoon and moved to third thanks to a double from Turner. With one out, Schwarber struck out, but Bohm picked him up with a two-run RBI single to right.
Both teams went down in order in the fifth, and in the top of the sixth, Luzardo worked through another easy inning, picking up his 10th strikeout of the afternoon. Turner walked in the bottom of the sixth, but a pop-up from Schwarber ended that campaign.
With Luzardo done, Max Lazar came on in relief in the seventh, and while he allowed a single to right by Hoerner, he worked around it, getting Straw to strike out and Vidal Brujan to line out. In the bottom half of the seventh, Bohm led off the inning in a big way with a solo home run for his fourth RBI of the game.
Now up 7-1, the Phillies did not add on in the seventh after the Bohm home run, but the Cubs added on in the top of the eighth. Happ smoked a line drive right past a lunging Castellanos for a double and advanced to third on a bobble by Johan Rojas, who was backing up Castellanos. Lazar allowed a single to Swanson but got flyouts from Suzuki and Kelly to end the inning.
Stott singled in the eighth, but failed to add on any insurance runs. In the ninth, Michael Mercado, who was recalled for Carlos Hernandez, who was designated for assignment pregame, came on to finish the job. Mercado allowed a walk to Shaw, but got Brujan to fly out to left to end the game, winning 7-2.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
