Phillies, Suárez lose stinker to Diamondbacks to drop series

One major comeback by a Philadelphia sports team after digging a large hole early was enough for the day. 

The Phillies dropped a 9-2 stinker in Arizona behind an ineffective Ranger Suárez, who allowed six runs and eight hits in four innings. Most of the damage came in a five-run second, which featured a three-run homer by Corbin Carroll to push the lead to six with only one out.

Suárez threw 79 pitches, 54 of them strikes, with just two strikeouts in his penultimate outing of the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Phillies got little going against Arizona’s Eduardo Rodriguez, who allowed six hits and three walks in six shutout frames. 

In a positive sign, Alec Bohm went 4-for-4 with a double. That hit came at 108.8 mph; he also singled at 102.2.

The Phillies’ lone two runs came in the eighth inning, on a one-out RBI single by Nick Castellanos and bases-loaded walk by Weston Wilson. Jhoan Duran got work in the eighth, allowing one run.

The stakes this time of year, given where the Phillies are, might not be super high. They’re still 4 1/2 games up with the tiebreaker over the Dodgers, who lost to the Giants on Sunday, for the first-round bye. But the Phillies couldn’t picked up a game on the losing Brewers for the No. 1 seed; instead, they remain three games back (and don’t hold the tiebreaker there). Milwaukee lost two of three to the sub-.500 Cardinals over the weekend, but the Phillies didn’t gain any ground.

The Phillies are off Monday before a three-game series against the Marlins.