The Phillies’ offense looked promising early on but fell apart quickly as the Arizona Diamondbacks took game one of their three-game series 5-4 on Friday night. Brandon Marsh hit a three-run home run but then tallied three of the Phillies’ 16 collective strikeouts the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, Jesús Luzardo put together a few strong innings but allowed five runs in the fifth, giving the D-Backs all the runs they needed to come out on top. Luzardo was coming off a strong 11-strikeout performance in Colorado but could not put the same performance together Friday night.
“Tonight, he didn't look quite as sharp,” said manager Rob Thomson after the game.
The sole right-handed bat in the first half of the batting order, Trea Turner led off the bottom of the first with a single just over third baseman Nolan Arenado’s outstretched glove. Kyle Schwarber then worked a four-pitch walk to put two runners on for the Phillies.
20.1 innings since the Phillies’ last run, Bryce Harper finally broke the streak. He ripped a slurve from Michael Soroka into right field, scoring Turner as Harper rolled up to second base.
Cleanup hitter Brandon Marsh then stepped up to the plate. Marsh, freshly moved up from the seventh slot in the lineup, took advantage of a 1-0 fastball, driving it 372 feet into left-center field, giving the Phillies a 4-0 lead over the Diamondbacks.
With an early lead, Jesús Luzardo settled into a groove quickly on the mound. He allowed one baserunner in the first inning on a leadoff walk to Ketel Marte before shutting down the Diamondbacks, recording two strikeouts in the inning.
Later, in the top of the fourth, Luzardo walked Geraldo Perdomo on five pitches. Luzardo then forced James McCann into a comeback groundball. Luzardo attempted to convert a 1-4-3 double play, but a low throw forced Bryson Stott to eat up more time in the exchange. McCann was ruled out at first on the play, but the call was overturned after a Diamondbacks challenge. Luzardo then struck out Nolan Arenado to get out of the inning.
Luzardo allowed his first hit of the day to Jose Fernandez, who led off the fifth inning with a single into left field. Two batters later, a walk and a bunt single placed Luzardo in a challenging situation with the bases loaded and no outs.
Luzardo worked Jorge Barros for his second strikeout of the day for the first out. Marte, who was 4-for-1 lifetime against Luzardo, then got the Diamondbacks on the board with a two-RBI single into left field. Ildemaro Vargas then followed up with a single of his own, scoring a runner from second.
After recording his second strikeout of the inning against Geraldo Perdomo, Luzardo received the knockout blow fromMcCann. The catcher doubled into right field just past Adolis García, scoring two runs and giving the Diamondbacks a 5-4 lead over the Phillies.
Manager Rob Thomson would not let Luzardo see another batter as he was removed from the game for reliever Jonathan Bowlan. Bowlan worked out of the inning with ease, getting Arenado to pop out to short.
The Phillies’ offensive outburst in the first inning was quickly put to bed. Their four runs on three hits were dwarfed by the zero runs on three hits they had the rest of the day. While the four runs caused a two-point uptick to Michael Soroka’s ERA, he struck out 10 batters on the day, the third double-digit strikeout outing of his career.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Justin Crawford attempted to breathe life into a quiet Phillies’ offense. Crawford smacked a triple off the right field wall, putting the tying run 90 feet away with Trea Turner due up at the plate. Turner then flew out to left field to end the game, dashing the hopes of the Phillies’ faithful that remained.
Dating back to Monday, the Phillies have scored runs in one of their past 29 innings of baseball.
Marsh had a three-run home run in the first inning but added three strikeouts in his remaining three at bats. Not a single Phillies batter was without a strikeout on the day. As a collective, the Phillies struck out 16 times on the day.
Before the start of the game, Thomson told the press that the team needed to work the count while at the plate. 16 strikeouts later, it still appears that the Phillies are trying to do too much at the plate.
”I think you gotta give Soroka some credit,” Thomson admitted. “He started to land that curveball, slurve, whatever you want to call it. That's a pretty good pitch for him, on righties and lefties.”
The Phillies will return to action Saturday afternoon as Taijuan Walker and Brandon Pfaadt square off in game two of the series.
The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. and can be watched on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
