Phillies pull Ranger Suárez early, pull away with win over Reds

PHILADELPHIA — Ranger Suárez had thrown just 80 pitches when he exited on Saturday afternoon. The wily left-hander tossed five innings and allowed one run to continue his brilliant stretch of pitching, but Philadelphia pulled him from the game before pulling away with a victory.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said the early hook was planned in an effort to combat the effects of the pitcher’s recent workload. Suárez admitted on Saturday that his shoulder and back had been bothering him in his last start. The team decided to limit him to a maximum of 85 pitches for the day.

“It was designed,” Thomson said. “In June, he had six starts, five of them (at least) seven innings, one of them six innings, all of them 94 pitches or more. So we went in today just trying to pull back a little bit.”

The blueprint worked. Suárez said he felt better on Saturday, and the bullpen followed him with four scoreless innings to secure a 5-1 win over Cincinnati at Citizens Bank Park. Edmundo Sosa and Alec Bohm hit key home runs off Reds starter Nick Lodolo. Slugger Kyle Schwarber added another homer in the eighth inning to help even up a three-game series.

Suárez lowered his season ERA to 1.99 in 12 starts with his outing. He surrendered five hits and struck out six. After missing the beginning of the season with a back issue, he’s performed like one of the best pitchers in the major leagues.

However, he was also extremely productive to start last year before injuring his back. He struggled down the stretch. The Phillies want to avoid a repeat of that scenario if possible.

“That’s why we had the pitch limit today, right?” Suárez said through an interpreter. “Last season, during the second half, I got hurt. So the pitch limit was just because of that, to see how we can progress, to keep feeling better and just going forward like that.”

Knowing he wouldn’t be going too deep into the game, Suárez started off on a strong note. He did not allow a hit until Reds left fielder Santiago Espinal singled in the bottom of the fourth. The lefty then escaped a bases-loaded jam, but he gave up a hard-hit home run to No. 9 hitter Will Benson in the fifth for his only blemish.

In accordance with the plan, Suárez was removed in favor of Jordan Romano after the Phillies tied the game on an opposite-field homer from Sosa in the bottom of the fifth. The reliever worked around a leadoff double to throw a scoreless sixth.

Bohm hit a go-ahead, two-run home run to left-center field in the bottom of the inning, handing Philadelphia a lead that was only widened when Schwarber crushed a two-run shot off reliever Brent Suter two innings later. Tanner Banks and Orion Kerkering followed Romano in relief before Matt Strahm finished out the ninth.

“I thought the bullpen was outstanding as well,” Thomson said.

The Phillies will go for a series win in the finale of their current six-game homestand on Sunday afternoon. They’ll then head to San Francisco for a three-game set with the Giants starting Monday. With a day off on Thursday, Suárez will have an extra day of rest before his next start in San Diego during the team’s final series before the All-Star break.

Thomson said the Phillies will see how Suárez feels after Saturday and decide if he needs to be put on a pitch count once again. He also didn’t rule out the chance of doing something similar with the other pitchers in his talented rotation.

“You’ll know when you see it,” Thomson said.