Jesus Luzardo shoves, Phillies dominate the Fish
The Phillies sent Jesus Luzardo to the mound at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night against his old team with a 7.34 home ERA hanging over his head like a storm cloud that has refused to move since April and responded by throwing seven innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts on 109 pitches in an 8-2 win that clinched the series over Miami.
The home Luzardo that has been getting shelled all season looked like a completely different pitcher and if this is the start of the home-road split correcting itself, the Phillies’ rotation just got significantly more dangerous heading into the second half.
The offense backed him with eight runs in the first four innings including a seven-run explosion across the first two frames that turned the game into batting practice before most fans had found their seats.
WATCH: Mike Gansey jinxed Jesus Luzardo’s no-hit bid while on the broadcast with T-Mac and Kruk >>
The Phillies are 39-33 and go for the sweep Wednesday afternoon with Andrew Painter on the mound, which is either going to be a stress-free series finale or another fifth-starter adventure depending on which version of Painter decides to show up.
Jesus Luzardo Got Ahead Early and It Changed Everything
The difference between Tuesday’s Luzardo and the version that has been getting destroyed at home all season came down to first-pitch strikes, which he threw to 21 of the 28 batters he faced at a 75 percent clip that allowed him to work into favorable counts where his sweeper-changeup combo could do damage instead of falling behind and having to lean on his fastball in hitters’ counts where it gets crushed.
In previous home starts Luzardo was falling behind too often and opposing hitters were sitting on the fastball and punishing it, but Tuesday he flipped the script by attacking early, getting ahead, and then using the secondary stuff to put guys away. Only five of Miami’s 16 batted balls were hit hard with two of those coming in the seventh when he was working on 100-plus pitches, and the final line of seven innings, five hits, one run, and nine strikeouts is exactly what home Luzardo is supposed to look like.
Luzardo said after his last start in Toronto that he believed the home-road splits were mostly coincidence and Tuesday was a meaningful step toward proving that theory. The home run ball has been the one thing killing him at the Bank with seven homers in 38 home innings versus one in 40 2/3 on the road, and he did give up another one Tuesday, but it came long after the run support made it irrelevant.
If he can keep getting ahead in counts and staying off the barrel the way he did Tuesday, that 7.34 home ERA is going to start dropping fast.
The Phillies Scored Seven Runs in Two Innings Against a Guy With a 1.86 ERA
Tyler Phillips came into Tuesday as one of the best pitchers in baseball that nobody was talking about with a 1.86 ERA and a resume as one of only two pitchers in the sport to throw 45-plus innings while allowing 10 or fewer runs and striking out 40 or more batters.
The local kid from Lumberton who grew up rooting for the Phillies, got traded to Miami for cash before the 2025 season, found a home in the Marlins’ rotation, and had been utterly dominant all year long.
The Phillies scored seven runs off him in two innings because the book was already written on Phillips and his 1.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio that would have been the second worst in baseball if he qualified told the Phillies everything they needed to know about the approach, which was to be patient, work the count, and wait for him to give you something to hit.
Marsh led off with a four-pitch walk before Harper worked a five-pitch walk two batters later, and then with runners on Bohm fought off a sinker on the hands and blooped an RBI single into right to make it 1-0.
Stott followed by catching a hanging sweeper and lacing a bases-clearing triple to left-center that blew it open at 3-0 in an inning built entirely on patient at-bats and two huge swings from the five and six hitters who have quietly been two of the best producers on the roster over the last few weeks with a combined .284/.345/.490 slash line and 12 extra-base hits across their last 15 games.
The second inning was even uglier for Phillips because Marsh got ahead 3-1, sat on a sinker over the middle of the plate, and went the other way over the 387-foot marker in left-center for a homer before Bohm got ahead 2-0 after Phillips missed with a sweeper and a splitter, sat on the sinker, and absolutely obliterated it to left-center for a 447-foot moonshot that might still be in orbit over Wisconsin. Seven runs in two innings against a pitcher with a 1.86 ERA and the game was over before Luzardo needed to break a sweat.
Alec Bohm. Power Hitter.
The 447-foot bomb to left-center deserves its own moment because that is not a normal Alec Bohm swing. Bohm has always been the guy who sprays line drives the other way to right-center and the pull-side power has been the one thing missing from his profile that would elevate him from solid to dangerous.
Over the last few weeks the pull-side swing has been showing up with authority and Tuesday’s moonshot was the most emphatic example yet of a hitter who is figuring out how to do damage in a direction he wasn’t previously comfortable with.
If Bohm can maintain the ability to punish mistakes to his pull side while keeping the opposite-field approach that makes him difficult to pitch to, the Phillies have a middle-of-the-order bat that can hurt you to any field in any count.
That’s a completely different hitter than the guy who was rolling over on mistake pitches and grinding into double plays a month ago, and the development is one of the most encouraging offensive trends since Mattingly took over.
Schwarber Made Franchise History With Homer Number 25
Kyle Schwarber laced his 25th home run of the season in the fourth inning and became the only Phillie in franchise history to reach 25 homers before the All-Star break, joining Ryan Howard as the only other player in the organization to even get close since Howard reached that number twice during his prime.
Kyle Schwarber – RING IT
Schwarber continues to lead the majors in home runs while playing first base and hitting leadoff, which is one of the most absurd sentences in baseball because leadoff hitters aren’t supposed to lead the league in homers and first basemen aren’t supposed to bat first, but Schwarber does Schwarber things and the Phillies are significantly better because of it.
The man is putting together a season that deserves All-Star recognition, a Home Run Derby invitation at Citizens Bank Park in July, and a conversation about where he ranks among the best power hitters in franchise history when his career is over.
Marsh Set the Tone From the Leadoff Spot
With Turner out of the lineup nursing the wrist contusion, Marsh moved up to leadoff and reached base three times including the first-inning walk that started the three-run rally and the second-inning homer that kicked off the four-run explosion.
The man who leads the majors in batting average looked perfectly comfortable hitting at the top of the order and set the tone for the entire offense from the first pitch of the game.
Whether Mattingly keeps Marsh in the leadoff spot while Turner is out or shuffles things around when Turner returns is a conversation worth having because Marsh’s ability to get on base and hit for power from that position gives the lineup a completely different look.
Schwarber leading off has been the formula all season but Marsh at the top with Schwarber hitting behind him and Harper in the three-hole is a terrifying top of the order for any opposing pitcher to navigate.
Smash The Bell?
Since Mattingly took over on April 28, the Phillies have hit the most home runs in the National League while also recording the most quality starts, and those two things have gone hand in hand because the formula is simple: get a quality start from the rotation and hit the ball out of the park a few times.
When both things happen in the same game the Phillies are nearly unbeatable with a 7-1 record in games where they leave the yard three or more times.
Tuesday was the latest example with Marsh, Bohm, and Schwarber all going deep while Luzardo threw seven strong innings, and when the rotation provides the foundation and the power bats provide the fireworks, the Phillies look like a team that can beat anyone in the National League.
Andrew Painter. For All Things Holy.
The Phillies go for the sweep Wednesday afternoon with Andrew Painter taking the mound against the Marlins and the range of outcomes is wider than any other starter on the roster because Painter’s last outing was the nightmare in Milwaukee where he gave up five runs in five innings after the coaching staff used an opener to shield him from the top of the lineup.
His ERA sits at 6.43 with 15 runs allowed over his last 13 innings and the fifth-starter problem has been the one recurring headache that the Phillies can’t shake no matter how well everything else is going.
The Marlins are the best possible opponent for a struggling rookie right now because their lineup is one of the weakest in baseball and the margin for error is significantly wider than it was against Milwaukee’s first-place club.
If Painter can’t put together a quality start against Miami at Citizens Bank Park with an offense that just scored eight runs buzzing through the dugout, the conversation about acquiring a starter at the deadline becomes completely unavoidable.
All anyone is asking for is six innings and three runs or fewer against the worst team in the league. The Phillies need the fifth starter to take advantage of the easiest matchup on the schedule and send the fans home happy with a sweep that builds momentum heading into the All-Star break push.
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Lizardo did not win this game, the other team just had a rough night at the Bank. Don’t let your eyes and numbers fool you.