Phillies Vs. Mets: Ranger Suarez Bounces Back But Phillies' Bats Silenced by Kodai Senga

Suarez bounces back but Phillies' bats totally silenced by Senga in loss to Mets originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK -- Tuesday's series opener at Citi Field was the official one-third mark of the Phillies' season and it played out the way a good portion of their first 54 games have, with too many swings on pitches outside the strike zone in a 2-0 loss.

The Phils were facing Mets right-hander Kodai Senga for the first time. The $75 million starting pitcher had walked at least three batters in eight of his nine starts since coming over from Japan but didn't walk anyone Tuesday night. The Phillies had just one baserunner in his seven innings, a Kody Clemens single. They chased 43% of Senga's pitches outside the strike zone, well above the league-average chase rate of 31%.

Even when they did exercise patience, the Phillies didn't get the calls. Brandon Marsh worked a 3-1 count with two outs in the fifth inning and the Phils down a run. A pitch well out of the zone high was called strike two and Marsh struck out a pitch later. Every call like that matters in a tight game.

Nick Castellanos was robbed of a home run an inning earlier by Brandon Nimmo, the second straight game the opposing center fielder has taken a homer back from the Phils. Michael Harris II victimized Kyle Schwarber Sunday night in Atlanta.

"That's the way that it's going for the Phils right now," Castellanos said. "But we've just got to keep treading water, stay fighting. It's a long season."

Senga definitely had his "ghost forkball" working against the Phillies, generating a whiff 12 of the 18 times they swung at it. But a lack of plate selection has been a constant theme in the Phils' 25-29 start to the season. Only six teams in the majors have a lower walk rate. Only the White Sox have chased more pitches outside the zone.

"He was throwing it for strikes early and then he expanded with it and we chased," manager Rob Thomson said. "We haven't seen him. Usually, our guys, the more experienced guys, they see a pitcher over and over again, they get more comfortable. When you see a guy the first time, sometimes it's tough to deal with."

The Phillies' most selective hitter, Bryce Harper, was out of the lineup for the first time since returning May 2 from Tommy John surgery. Thomson said it was not injury-related, but it was curious that he did not use Harper as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of a two-run game.

"He's fine, he'll play tomorrow," the manager said. "We wanted to give him a full day off, don't swing the bat, don't get ready. A lot of times when they're pinch-hitting, they take a lot of swings, a lot of swings, a lot of swings (throughout the game). We wanted to give him a full day. 

"To keep him healthy, I'd rather not risk that."

The Phillies wanted to give Harper two full days off with the off day Monday. It meant sitting Sunday or Tuesday. Harper wanted to play Sunday, so the Phils sat him Tuesday. In retrospect, it probably would have made more sense to rest him Sunday night in the Spencer Strider-Dylan Covey game which skewed heavily in the Braves' favor.

The Mets' setup men have been shaky and Adam Ottavino heard boos after walking J.T. Realmuto on four pitches to begin the eighth. The tying run was at the plate but Realmuto was thrown out stealing second in a two-run game to bail him out Ottavino, who was out of the inning a few pitches later. David Robertson got Bryson Stott to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to shut the door in the ninth.

"Oh yeah, that was all on me," Thomson said of Realmuto's stolen base attempt. (Ottavino) is 1.8 seconds to the plate, that should be a stolen base, and that keeps you out of a double-play ball and puts some pressure on them. But he sped up a little bit and the catcher made a good throw."

Ranger Suarez bounced back with 6⅔ solid innings, a promising sign after how poorly he pitched in his first three starts. He threw more strikes, worked ahead in counts and had his full repertoire working.

In his first three starts since returning from an elbow injury, Suarez put 22 men on base in 11 innings and had a first-pitch strike rate just over 50%. Against the Mets, he threw a first-pitch strike to 18 of the 26 batters he faced.

"He was fantastic, he really was," Thomson said. "Got ahead, threw strikes, had a good feel for his changeup, threw good breaking balls. I thought he was outstanding. That was a really good outing against a really good hitting club."

The Phillies needed to see signs like these from Suarez. They'd received a combined 6.30 ERA from Suarez and Taijuan Walker entering Tuesday, but Walker has come around slowly, pitching well in four of his last five starts. Now the Phils hope Suarez can get on a roll. Mid-rotation production would mask some of the problems the Phillies are having in the No. 5 spot.

"I felt much, much better on the mound today," Suarez said. "I felt like I was calmer than in my previous outings and that helped me a lot to get deep into the game. In my previous outings, I was a little sped up.

"Something that was really key for me was that in my last bullpen session, I kind of simulated a game. We went through at-bats, like if I fall behind in the count, what am I going to throw? If I'm ahead in the count, what am I going to throw? Little things like that."

The Phils are 2-3 on their first NL East road trip of the season. They have two more games in New York and three in D.C.

Aaron Nola (4-3, 4.59) starts Wednesday night opposite Carlos Carrasco (1-2, 6.75).

It's Walker (4-2, 5.57) vs. Max Scherzer (4-2, 3.54) in the series finale Thursday afternoon.

"We definitely have not played bad," Castellanos said of the trip thus far. "Other than the last game in Atlanta, that wasn't good. But we've played good baseball. We played good baseball tonight but they just played a little bit better."