Jesus Luzardo is going to be a key part of the Philadelphia Phillies’ postseason rotation.
The left-hander will take the ball for the final time in the regular season on Wednesday night when the Phillies host his former team, the Miami Marlins.
Luzardo (14-7, 4.08 ERA) had lost only once in his previous 12 starts before absorbing a 5-0 defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers last Wednesday. He gave up four runs in seven innings in that setback, allowing two home runs after not giving up any in his previous four starts.
“The whole outing I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff,” Luzardo said. “Felt like we ran it through and kept it solid enough, kept us in the game.”
This will be Luzardo’s fourth career start against the Marlins (all this season). Luzardo, who was dealt to Philadelphia last winter, is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA against Miami.
Fellow left-hander Ryan Weathers (2-1, 3.21) will get the nod for the Marlins after a bit of a rocky outing last Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies. He allowed eight hits and two walks in four innings that day but limited the damage to three runs in his team’s 8-4 win.
“Everything felt good,” Weathers said. “I might’ve just kind of pitched around the strike zone too much.”
Weathers is 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against Philadelphia.
The Marlins (77-80) enter this game with seven straight wins, including 6-5 in 11 innings in Tuesday’s series opener. Heriberto Hernandez belted a game-tying home run in the ninth inning before Xavier Edwards delivered the decisive sacrifice fly in the 11th.
Meanwhile, the Phillies (92-65) have lost three games in a row and four of their last five. Amid the slump, the team — which already has clinched the National League East title — has produced sloppy results on the basepaths, plus a lack of clutch hitting and inconsistent pitching.
“There was a little bit of sloppiness that we need to clean up — and it’s been the last couple of days,” Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said. “So we need to clean it up and clean it up quick.”
In fairness, the Marlins are trying to clean up some sloppiness of their own. In Tuesday’s win, Miami manager Clayton McCullough took Agustin Ramirez out of the game after he forgot the number of outs and was doubled off first base in the sixth inning.
“Physical mistakes are gonna happen all the time. … That’s a mental mistake that is completely in our control,” McCullough said. “Not mad at Gus at all — just felt like that was gonna be his last play of today’s game.”
Miami’s Griffin Conine homered in Tuesday’s contest after spending more than five months on the injured list following shoulder surgery.
Kyle Schwarber went deep for Philadelphia — his 54th homer of the season — bringing him within four of Ryan Howard’s franchise record.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto exited the game with a hand contusion after taking a foul ball off his throwing hand. X-rays were negative, and he’ll be re-evaluated Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
