Phillies’ five-run lead slips away as Red Sox prevent a sweep in extras: ‘That fifth inning was just a killer’
Jesús Luzardo entered the fifth with a no-hitter, but the Red Sox tagged him for six runs in the inning. Boston's Carlos Narváez hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the 11th.
When Jesús Luzardo walked out for the fifth inning with a no-hitter going and a comfortable 5-0 lead to back it up, the Phillies seemed primed for the series sweep against the Red Sox.
But by the time Luzardo walked off the mound after the fifth, Boston had tagged him for six runs to jump ahead. And though the Phillies fought back to tie things up twice as the game marched on to extra innings, Luzardo’s abbreviated outing forced them to use seven bullpen arms.
That meant sending Seth Johnson out for the 11th, in the biggest high-leverage spot of his young career. And a two-run homer from Carlos Narváez that just cleared the railing in left field put Boston in front for good in the 9-8 Phillies loss.
“It’s disappointing,” said manager Rob Thomson. “But I thought the offense was good tonight. The bullpen was good. That fifth inning was just a killer.”
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Luzardo dazzled through the first four innings, striking out six with his sweeper. But after he lost the no-hit bid on a leadoff double from Masataka Yoshida, he lost his command out of the stretch. Luzardo walked four to force in two runs and gave up a grand slam to Romy González that put Boston ahead, 6-5.
Luzardo has struggled with his command out of the stretch since making a midseason adjustment to his hand placement after the Phillies believed he was tipping his pitches. Even so, he said he didn’t want to return to the windup — where he has been far more effective — when the bases were loaded.
“I didn’t want to necessarily go out of the windup and have the guy on second take a huge lead. I give up a knock, guy scores easily. That’s where my mind was at,” Luzardo said. “ … We just saw [Bryce] Harper steal home [Tuesday]. So that’s also a thought in my mind. And I have a lot of faith in myself out of the stretch. I understand that there’s been an issue, but I also believe in myself to make a pitch and get out of it, so I just need to be better, make the pitch.”
He said he’s gone “back to the drawing board” with the Phillies pitching staff to determine how to recapture his command and confidence with runners on base.
Luzardo could have escaped the bases-loaded jam when Rob Refsnyder hit a foul pop-up with the bases loaded and two out. But catcher J.T. Realmuto could not find the ball in the sky and it dropped behind the plate.
“That’s not on J.T. at all,” Luzardo said. “I lost it. I don’t think anyone saw it. I lost it in the sky. I pointed up, and the second I looked up, I lost it too.”
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With new life, Refsnyder drew a walk to force in a run. Luzardo continued to flounder with four straight balls to Jarren Duran that scored another. He finally found the zone against González, but a changeup he left over the middle of the plate ended up over the outfield wall for the go-ahead grand slam.
The inning completely erased the early lead the Phillies offense had built. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper went back-to-back in the first inning off Lucas Giolito. Harper demolished the 350th homer of his career 439 feet.
“Good night for the offense,” Harper said. “I thought we hung in there pretty well. Thought we swung the bats well all series, and really thought we had great at-bats.”
Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott added solo shots. Stott, who also doubled in the second inning, was in the starting lineup after welcoming the birth of his second child in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
Realmuto tied the game in the eighth with his first home run since May 21 in Colorado. It came off Boston’s flame-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman, who hadn’t allowed a home run since May 7.
Jordan Romano, Orion Kerkering, and Matt Strahm each tossed scoreless frames, and Tanner Banks stranded two runners he inherited from Daniel Robert in the seventh. The Red Sox retook the lead in the 10th when Max Lazar allowed a double to Trevor Story that scored ghost-running Durran, but Schwarber tied the game again with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning.
The Phillies had the tying run aboard in the 11th after an RBI single from Johan Rojas, but Max Kepler struck out looking to end the game.