CINCINNATI — Outside the foul lines, Jesús Luzardo comes across as an even-keeled individual. Inside them, however, he can be fiery.
As he walked off the mound after the second inning on Thursday, the Phillies left-hander exchanged some heated words with someone inside the Reds dugout. Luzardo didn’t specify who he was addressing or what he was responding to, only hinting that the exchange was “in English.”
“Just a little heated competition,” Luzardo said. “I think it helps me, at times, finding a little bit of edge, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”
And he had plenty of edge Thursday night, as he mowed down the Reds for seven innings, holding them to two hits. The offense did just enough to back Luzardo up, eking out a 1-0 win to take the series against Cincinnati.
In his final start before his first career All-Star appearance, Luzardo turned in a performance worthy of the honor. His five-pitch first inning — the fewest pitches the Phillies lefty has ever thrown in an inning in his career — was a sign of things to come.
“I saw him that first inning, it was like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s got his stuff today,’” said center fielder Justin Crawford. “… The swings, the movement on his pitches, I mean, it was pretty electric, and he just looked like he had that confidence on the mound, the presence.”
His sweeper was the key. Eight of his 11 total strikeouts and 12 of his 20 total swing-and-misses came on the pitch. The pitch has been one of the best in baseball since he added it to his arsenal at the start of last season, but Luzardo believes it’s found another level over his last few outings.
“I almost felt like I threw it so much last year that I like forgot how to throw it,” Luzardo said. “I feel like I got back in the rhythm of it, the feel for it, finding the zone with it, and then finding the swing and miss underneath the zone as well.”
His sweeper helped him outduel Reds starter Brady Singer, who turned in one of his best starts of the season. Bryson Stott’s double in the second inning was the Phillies’ only hit against the right-hander until Kyle Schwarber singled in the seventh, though Schwarber was immediately erased after Bryce Harper grounded into a double play.
Even though they didn’t have much to show for it, the Phillies were making solid contact against Singer. Through the first six innings, the Phillies lined out four times, and they had 11 total hard-hit balls against him. They finally broke through in the eighth inning, thanks to an RBI single from Crawford that found some grass.
After hitting .195 in the month of May, Crawford has turned things around at the plate. Over his last 35 games since June 2, Crawford has a .313 batting average.
“Justin, I’ve been saying it all along, he’s always had a good face,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “He’s never really panicked, even when he struggled there. He was staying with his work. Didn’t change his look and the way he walked around, things like that, and that’s huge. When you see young guys do that, you know they got a chance to be really good.”
The Phillies were only in position to score thanks to some heads-up baserunning. Gabriel Rincones Jr. was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and was replaced with Derek Hill as a pinch-runner.
Hill took off on Singer’s 0-2 pitch to J.T. Realmuto, and when the Phillies catcher sent a chopper to Elly De La Cruz, the double play was off the table. De La Cruz’s only play was to first base, allowing Hill to advance to scoring position as Crawford came to the plate.
“Feels like just trying to move the needle, been obviously working with [hitting coach] Kevin [Long] a lot, day by day,” Crawford said. “So was good to kind of see some results out of it, and just trying to keep taking it one day at a time, and keep going. One pitch at a time.”
Once Luzardo’s night ended after the seventh, the Phillies used Jonathan Bowlan as the setup man for closer Jhoan Duran. Bowlan delivered a 1-2-3 eighth inning, which included striking out De La Cruz on a 99.2 mph fastball.
“He’s been really good for us, and I think [pitching coach] Caleb [Cotham] said before the game, he’s the righty that’s been the best against lefties,” Mattingly said. “So that kind of changes his role a little bit.”
One of the Phillies’ other first-time All-Stars finished it off. Duran wavered at first, allowing the first two Reds in the ninth to reach with a single and hit-by-pitch. Cotham came out to give Duran a breather, and following the mound visit, Duran struck out Eugenio Suárez on three pitches. He putting the Reds’ designated hitter away with a 96.7 mph splinker.
“To be able to get Eugenio there, that’s the huge out, because now they need a hit,” Mattingly said. “If Eugenio was able to move him, then it’s just a sac fly situation. … I thought that was huge, but he bounced back, and was good.”
From there, Duran continued to battle back, striking out Tyler Stephenson and inducing a groundout from Noelvi Marte to strand the winning run at first base. He completed the Phillies’ 11th shutout win of the season.
