Phillies blank Braves behind Ranger Suarez’s 8-strikeout gem

Ranger Suarez struck out eight over six solid innings as the Philadelphia Phillies notched a 2-0 victory Tuesday in the opener of their three-game series against the visiting Atlanta Braves.

Suarez (4-0) scattered four hits and three walks for the Phillies, who watched Bryce Harper exit after getting hit by a pitch on his right elbow in the first inning. X-rays came back negative on Harper, who was diagnosed with an elbow contusion. Jordan Romano worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save, wrapping up Philadelphia’s 10th win in 11 games.

Atlanta’s Spencer Strider (0-3) allowed one run on one hit and four walks in 4 2/3 innings in his third start of the season. He struck out seven, but threw only 50 of his 90 pitches for strikes as the Braves lost for the fifth time in six games.

Philadelphia plated the game’s first run in the second inning. Alec Bohm walked to open the frame against Strider, who then struck out Nick Castellanos for the first out. Max Kepler followed with a drive into the right-center field gap, plating Bohm.

That proved to be enough for Suarez, who worked around a baserunner in each of the first four innings.

Atlanta put together a stiffer rally in the fifth, as Michael Harris II led off with a single and Ronald Acuna Jr. walked with one out. Marcell Ozuna walked to load the bases with two outs before Suarez retired Matt Olson on strikes to escape the jam.

Philadelphia created some chaos of its own in the bottom half of the frame, putting two runners on with two outs against Strider. The righty was then pulled in favor of Enyel De Los Santos, who retired Edmundo Sosa on an inning-ending grounder.

Suarez yielded a leadoff single to Ozzie Albies in the sixth but got the next three hitters to put an exclamation point on his night.

Orion Kerkering worked around a one-out hit in the seventh and Matt Strahm got through the eighth with the help of a sliding catch by Kepler in left field.

The hosts made it 2-0 in the eighth when Daysbel Hernandez allowed four consecutive baserunners with two outs, including J.T. Realmuto’s walk with the bases loaded.

–Field Level Media