Ranger Suarez tosses complete game shutout, stays cool in biggest moment in Phillies' win over Rockies
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The pressure of a Major League Baseball game doesn't become too much for Ranger Suarez. Never shy of the moment, Suarez is cool as a cucumber in pressure situations.
Was there pressure in a five-run game against the Colorado Rockies in April at Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night? Not for Suarez, even with a complete game at stake -- a rarity in this era of baseball.
Suarez typically has ice in his veins, but he even felt the moment when he went out to the mound in front of 35,010 screaming fans shouting: "Let's go, Ranger!" Suarez's walk-up song -- "Mr. Rager" by Kid Cudi -- was playing as he emerged from the dugout to get three more outs.
"When I heard my song once again in the ninth, my whole body shook," Suarez said, through team interpreter Diego D'Aniello. "I had a lot of time before feeling that way. I think that feeling helped."
Suarez needed 23 pitches to get through the ninth but earned the second complete game shutout of his career in a 5-0 victory over the Rockies. The Phillies' No. 3 starter was brilliant, allowing just seven hits and striking out eight while walking one. He threw 112 pitches, 79 of which were strikes.
The only real sign of trouble Suarez had was in the ninth inning, one in which he threw 13 strikes and 10 balls. Suarez allowed two singles to Charlie Blackmon and Ryan McMahon, having to get the final two outs with Elias Díaz and Nolan Jones (the Rockies No. 4 and No. 5 hitters) due up.
Suarez needed seven pitches to get out Diaz, striking him out on a foul tip while facing a 3-2 count. He didn't wait around to get Jones out, getting Jones, who played high school baseball at Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem, to hit the ball right at Suarez on the second pitch of the at-bat to cap the complete game shutout.
"I just wanted to get out of the inning as fast as possible. That grounder was perfect," Suarez said. "I just wanted to get out of there as quick as possible."
Suarez cruised through the first eight innings, having six strikeouts and allowing just five hits and a walk on 89 pitches. He was getting quick outs throughout the game, setting the stage to go the distance.
There was no doubt Suarez wasn't going out for the ninth inning, as manager Rob Thomson described it was a "stress-free" 89 pitches. The result was no runs allowed, but Suarez wasn't feeling the pressure of getting the complete game either.
"I wasn't tired. Just a couple of changeups that I think I didn't execute the way I wanted to," Suarez said. "I stayed focused and felt good overall in that ninth inning. I don't think being tired is gonna be in your mind when you're on your way to a shutout in the ninth."
Suarez got through the ninth inning unscathed, becoming just the second pitcher in the majors to throw a complete game this season. He's one of just 14 pitchers to have multiple complete game shutouts since the start of the 2021 season.
"He's the best three in the game," Bryce Harper said, describing Suarez's performance. "Just the way he goes and competes out there. Every time he goes out there, we got a chance to win. Just like the other two guys that go out there in front of him. It's just a lot of fun to watch.
"You guys saw it in the postseason as well. He has no heartbeat. He just goes out there and pitches. He has kind of the same plan and same demeanor every day."
The only sound that altered Suarez's emotion was "Mr. Rager." Besides that, business as usual.
"He asked me to finish the game," Suarez said of Thomson's discussion with him in the eighth inning. "And that I did."
