Phillies Ride Ranger Suarez and Long Ball to Notch Key Win Against Reds

After last night’s loss to the Cincinnati Reds and the failure of the starting pitching, it was important to get a shut-down start from Ranger Suarez, and equally important for the offense to keep putting up runs. This was not going to be an easy task against Reds starter Nick Lodolo, who has been the Reds most consistent starter this season with the exception of one hiccup against the Cleveland Guardians.

Ranger Suarez did something that eluded Jesus Suarez: he pitched well off the fastball and was hitting the zone consistently. He and Lodolo both looked solid, but the Phillies turned on the offense in the late innings once again with three home runs, propelling the Phils to a 5-1 win and keeping the New York Mets in the rearview mirror in the National League East.

Phillies Firing On All Cylinders In Team Win

When Ranger Suarez came into the game, he had a 2.03 ERA, and after the first four innings, his season ERA dipped under 2 for the first time in 2025. He primarily used his sinker to set up his off-speed pitches later in counts, which truly kept the Reds hitters off balance all day. In the fifth inning, he struggled a bit, allowing a home run to Will Benson on a pitch that was far inside but still manageable for Reds’ slugger.

Normally this is okay, but the Reds’ lefty starter Nick Lodolo was trading zeros with Suarez for the first four innings; he was just as tricky as the Phils’ lefty starter. That was until he left a fastball over the plate to Edmundo Sosa, and Sosa hit a solo home run to right field, tying the game. Jordan Romano came out for the sixth inning and shut down the Reds.

In the bottom of the 6th, with a runner on, Alec Bohm took a center-cut 93 MPH fastball from Lodolo and parked it well over the State Farm sign in left center, giving the Phils a 3-1 lead. Though they only had 4 hits, 2 of them were home runs

Orion Kerkering came in for the eighth inning looking to shut down the Reds, and things got a little dicey. Elly De La Cruz hit a single and Austin Hayes hit a tailor-made double play ball to Trea Turner, but it popped in and out of his glove. He didn’t have to wait long to get another chance, however, as Spencer Steer hit a ball right at Turner for a bang-bang 6-3 double play. As fate would have, it he was the first batter of the bottom of the eighth and hit a hard ground ball that was misplayed and ended up as an error. This set the table for Kyle Schwarber to hit an opposite field bomb, making the game 5-1 in favor of the Phillies.

July Schwarber is in full effect now, with him hitting his 27th home run of the season. Between his timely power resurgence and Bryce Harper returning to the lineup, this makes me feel like the offense is starting to fire on all cylinders again. Matt Strahm closed out the ninth inning, reiterating to us who Rob Thomson trusts in the back-end of the bullpen.

Tomorrow, we have Chase Burns taking on Phillies ace Zack Wheeler in the rubber match of the series.

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