From the start Thursday, Jesus Luzardo’s night looked like it was going to be a short one.
Yet, the left-hander settled in and authored arguably his most impressive performance in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform.
Luzardo retired the final 22 batters he faced over his eight-inning, 10-strikeout performance in the Phillies’ come-from-behind, sweep-clinching 6-4 win over the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park.
It was Luzardo’s first start of eight innings since the Phillies acquired him from the Miami Marlins this off-season and his longest outing since he went eight innings against the Milwaukee Brewers as a member of the Marlins on May 22, 2024.
The Phillies (87-60) now lead the Mets by 11 games. Their magic number to clinch the National League East is down to four.
What Did Jesus Luzardo Say About His Outing Thursday?
Luzardo did not look long for his outing the way things started.
Luzardo gave up back-to-back singles to Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, then after striking out Juan Soto, he gave up three more hits, putting the Phillies in a 4-0 hole before they even sent a batter to the plate.
But he induced Jeff McNeil to line into a double play, giving the Phillies a chance to get back into the game.
âThe mentality kind of stayed the same of just keep making good pitches,â said Luzardo, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. âI felt like I made some good pitches in the first but they found some holes, put some good swings on it. Just understanding their approach, theyâre going to swing early, attack and try to get in and out of at-bats quick. Just kind of use their aggression against them.”
Luzardo gave Philadelphia the chance to chip away, which it did by scoring two runs in the fourth inning. The Phillies then cut the Mets’ advantage to 4-3 in the fifth before they pulled ahead with a three-run sixth, keyed by Harrison Bader’s RBI single and Bryce Harper’s two-out infield single.
âKeeping us in the game was huge,” Luzardo said. “At the end of the day all we can control is the pitches we make and the outcomes we canât control.”
Luzardo took it from there. He didn’t even walk a batter in his eight-inning outing and appeared to even get stronger, striking out five of his final seven batters faced.
“I couldnât tell you,” Luzardo said when asked the last time he threw seven perfect innings. “Maybe in high school but it definitely wasnât after giving up four in the first. I found out after. I knew itâd been a while (since allowing a baserunner). In the eighth the first was already kind of a blur.â
Luzardo also said he tried to convince manager Rob Thomson to finish the game, but he opted for Jhoan Duran.
“I was trying to get one more out of Topper but he shot it down pretty quick,” Luzardo said.
What Did Rob Thomson Say About The Win?
Thomson was impressed with Luzardo’s ability to persevere.
âLuzardo gives up the four in the first, up in the zone a little bit, behind in the count a little bit and then he just settled right in and gave us eight strong.”
The win was Philadelphia’s 11th in its past 14 games, and it pulled within two games of the idle Brewers for the No. 1 seed in the National League.
Yet, Thomson was more impressed with his offense’s ability to come back from way behind.
“Itâs really unbelievable,” Thomson said. “The offense kept coming. They just didnât quit. It was just a great win overall.â
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