New hairstyle, same result for Jesús Luzardo as the Blue Jays pounce for a 9-1 win over the Phillies

TORONTO — Jesús Luzardo is a very superstitious person.

He wears glasses on the mound, not because he needs them to see, but because he has pitched poorly without them. He is also very particular about his daily pitching routines, down to the minute.

So after allowing a career-worst 12 runs in his start last week against the Brewers, Luzardo showed up in Toronto with a new cornrow hairstyle, in an effort to reset his pitching mojo.

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But a hair change wasn’t enough to fix whatever has been going on with the Phillies left-hander, who is still searching for answers. Luzardo was shelled for the second consecutive start Thursday as the Blue Jays tagged him for eight runs en route to a 9-1 rout.

“There’s definitely there’s something obvious that we’re missing,” Luzardo said. “The first 11 starts are lights-out, and in the next two are 20 earned runs. There’s got to be something that we can find and fix and make that change happen fast.”

While the Phillies offense was lifeless, Toronto knocked Luzardo around for nine hits, including three doubles and a two-run homer. He did not make it out of the third inning, forcing the Phillies to bring in relievers earlier than expected a day before a planned bullpen game in Pittsburgh with Zack Wheeler still on the paternity list.

Luzardo’s sweeper, which he incorporated into his arsenal this spring, was one of his most effective weapons for the first two months of the season. But Toronto hitters whiffed on it only once, and Bo Bichette sent a first-pitch sweeper 413 feet for a two-run homer in the second inning.

His other pitches didn’t fare much better. Luzardo’s sinker wasn’t effective against Toronto’s fully right-handed lineup, which was especially aggressive against him in early counts.

“I think maybe whether it’s pitch selection, pitch location, or tipping, whatever it might be, I don’t really have an answer,” Luzardo said. “But definitely something I need to figure out quick.”

One thing Luzardo knows isn’t the problem is his health. His velocity was normal, and he said he feels great physically.

Manager Rob Thomson said that the Phillies are always on alert if one of their pitchers is tipping, and they haven’t yet found anything to suggest that Luzardo is. But the stark contrast — Luzardo’s 2.15 ERA through his first 11 starts has swelled to 4.46 within a week — is certainly cause for alarm.

“I think it just really comes down to execution,” Thomson said. “First-pitch strikes are good, and they’re really aggressive on him, so we’ve got to take a look at that. But everything’s hard, so they’re just coming up there and they’re swinging. So we’ve got to address it.”

His defense didn’t help him much, either. Tyler Heinemen popped up a ball to shallow left field in the third inning, only 70.5 mph off the bat. Despite having priority as the outfielder, Max Kepler backed off, and Trea Turner dropped the ball while attempting to make a basket catch.

Two runs scored on the play, which was ruled a single, and Luzardo was lifted for Max Lazar.

On the other side, the Phillies couldn’t make any hard contact against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt. They mustered a single run in the sixth inning, stringing together a double from Turner and a single from Kyle Schwarber. But Turner’s double and a groundout from Max Kepler were the only two hard-hit balls off Bassitt.

“It’s just a funky arm, but we’ve seen him plenty of times before,” Schwarber said. “It felt like he was just being able to put the sinker where he wanted it, and he was kind of running up that cutter up top, and being able to get chase below with the curveball. But it is what it is. We have to move forward from it.”

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The Phillies finished with five hits, three of which came courtesy of Nick Castellanos. Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott both finished 0-for-4 for the second consecutive game.

Taijuan Walker pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning, making his first appearance as a reliever since May 14. Seth Johnson tossed the next two innings, making his second major league appearance after debuting as a starter last year. He allowed one run on a pair of hits in the sixth.

Utility player Weston Wilson pitched the eighth, his second time pitching in the last week.

With the loss, the Phillies have dropped their second consecutive series and have fallen further behind the Mets in the National League East standings. But the biggest concern as they board the plane to Pittsburgh will be getting to the bottom of what has changed with Luzardo.

His search for answers started even before the game was over. Down in the clubhouse after being taken out, Luzardo began watching film of the Blue Jays’ at-bats against him to see if he could pick anything up.

“I don’t have an answer,” Luzardo said, “but there’s no one working harder at finding an answer than me.”