Luzardo bounces back, Schwarber homers in win over White Sox
Kyle Schwarber’s 37th homer of the season was a no doubter.
He saw a hanging slider and sent it 441 feet to the Miller Lite Landing, located in right field at Rate Field. The two-run bomb turned out to be symbolic of how the game went for the Phillies (61-46), as the squad cruised to a 6-3 win over the Chicago White Sox (39-69) on Tuesday, July 29.
Schwarber’s two-run homer in the third inning contributed to six runs put up in the first three frames by the Phillies offense. Max Kepler got the action going in the second inning when his sacrifice fly drove home Nick Castellanos. Otto Kemp matched Kepler with a sacrifice fly of his own, bringing in Brandon Marsh.
After Schwarber’s homer scored Trea Turner, Marsh notched his own two-run bomb in the third. The hit marked the first time Marsh had gone yard since July 2.
As impressive as the Phillies offense looked on Tuesday, Jesús Luzardo proved to be just as formidable. The lefty delivered a much-needed performance, putting up seven shutout innings while scattering two hits and walking one batter. Despite three runs given up in the ninth by Daniel Robert, Luzardo’s outing earned himself a win for the first time since July 9. It also became the third time this season Luzardo threw at least seven innings of no-run ball.
On top of the impressive stat line, Luzardo showed major improvement from his last start in the area of pitching with runners on base. A big test came in the first inning, when Luis Robert Jr. drew a walk to set up ducks on the pond with two outs. After a meeting with pitching coach Caleb Cotham, Luzardo opted to pitch out of the windup and was able to induce a flyout to leave the inning unscathed.
Luzardo’s start could be the catalyst for a usually dominant Phillies rotation to get back on track. The 27-year-old ended a streak of five straight games where a Phillies starting pitcher did not record a quality start.
After a dull performance on Monday night, the Phillies looked much more like a team that has serious expectations to compete for a World Series. The club will go for their third series win in a row when they take the field on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10 p.m.