Ranger Suarez allows 6 earned runs in 8-2 blowout loss
Jul 20, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
After evening up the series with a 9-5 win last night, the Phillies looked to take 2 of 3 against the Angels with a win today.
Their offense was neutralized by the Angels starter Jose Soriano. The Phillies grounded out a ton and were blown out 8-2 in the series finale.
Soriano, who’s been one of MLB’s best pitchers on the road this season, did an outstanding job keeping the ball out of the air. A Phillies hitter wouldn’t record a fly ball all the way until the 6th inning, thanks to a solo home run from Otto Kemp.
After taking center stage a night ago, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper would combine to go 1 for 8. As for the usually reliable Ranger Suarez, it was his worst start in over 2 months. Suarez, who allowed just 6 ER in all of the month of June, was shelled for 6 ER in just 4.1 innings pitched. His command was off all day long, tying his career high in walks with 4. After working out of a first-inning jam, the Angels broke the game open with a 5 run second inning and never let go of the lead en route to victory.
With the series loss, the Phillies’ division lead over the Mets has dropped to just half a game.
Phillies ground out 19 times
The Phillies’ ability to score 9 runs and 2 home runs in a game one day and follow up that performance with 1 fly ball combined as a team is one of the more frustrating aspects of them.
The Phillies had no answer for Angels starter Soriano all day long. However, things did look promising early in the game. Brandon Marsh led off the bottom of the second inning and advanced to third base off consecutive groundouts from Kemp and Max Kepler. Rafael Marchan scored Marsh on an RBI single for his 6th RBI on the year to make it a 5-1 game. The pressure continued to mount on Soriano with a Bryson Stott walk and subsequent wild pitch to move Marchan to third and Stott to second base for Trea Turner. Turner wasn’t able to capitalize, grounding out to first base to end the inning.
The fourth inning saw more two-out pressure thanks to another wild pitch. Kemp picked up his first hit of the day with a one-out single. A fielder’s choice would replace Kemp at first with Kepler with 2 outs. Soriano sent another wild pitch into the dirt as Kepler advanced to second base. Marchan had a 2-0 count with a chance to cut the lead back down to 4. Unfortunately for the Phillies, Soriano did what he does best, getting Marchan to roll over on a groundout.
It’d take until the 6th inning for the Phillies’ lineup to finally show some pop. Otto Kemp finally gave the Phillies their first fly ball in a special moment in his young career. Kemp blasted his first career home run at Citizens Bank Park to make it a 7-2 game.
The Phillies went down quietly, managing just 1 walk across the last 3 innings of the game. The offense has hit a rough patch in the last 2 weeks. The bats have struggled to find consistency with great performances like a 9-run effort a night ago, but have been unable to sustain it.
Suarez allows 6 runs in 4.1 innings
It was a rare bad outing from Suarez. He struggled to find command of any of his pitches, especially his changeup.
After pitching out of a 2 out jam in the first, the wheels fell off quickly for Ranger in the second inning. 3 straight one-out singles loaded the bases quickly for Zach Neto. Neto got the scoring started with an RBI single to right field. LaMonte Wade Jr. would fly out to make it 2 outs with the bases loaded for Mike Trout. Trout worked a walk, making it 2-0. Taylor Ward broke the inning open with a 3-RBI double to give the Angels a commanding 5-0 lead in just the second inning.
The fourth inning saw the Angels put more stress on Suarez. Back-to-back singles to lead off the inning put runners on the corners with no outs. Neto scored thanks to a sacrifice fly from Mike Trout to make it 6-1. Suarez prevented another disaster inning by getting consecutive strikeouts to end the inning.
Suarez would pitch into the fifth inning, where Jorge Soler led off the inning with a single. Logan O’Hoppe lined out, but after his 4th free pass of the game was given up to Luis Rengifo, Joe Ross came into the game out of the bullpen.
Ross worked out of the fifth without allowing a run. The sixth inning wouldn’t be as kind to Ross, as Wade crushed a leadoff home run into right field a whopping 422 feet, making it 7-1. Ross found himself in more trouble after an infield single from Soler, followed by an O’Hoppe walk, which loaded the bases right after that. Ross avoided disaster by getting Rengifo to ground out.
Seth Johnson came in relief of Ross to pitch the seventh. The Angels put traffic on the bases off of a Kemp error and a walk from Wade. Ward again made the Phillies pay with an RBI double, extending the lead to 8-2.
After Johnson, it was Jordan Romano who came on to pitch the eighth. Romano took care of business with a 1-2-3 inning. For the ninth, Max Lazar gave up a 2-out single, but the Angels made nothing of it.
Ethan Whitney
Ethan is a writer for Philly Sports Reports and a Color Commentator for Rally Sports Network. He has been a massive fan of all Philly Sports for as long as he can remember and wants to share that passion with the world. He is looking for a long career in the sports media sphere.
Get new articles emailed right to your inbox.
