Suárez suffers first loss of season after Rockies beat Phillies 5-2
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 21: Ranger Suárez #55 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on after pitches against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park on May 21, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA - Ryan McMahon hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the first inning, and the Colorado Rockies sent Ranger Suárez to his first loss of the season in a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
Colorado, last in the NL West at 18-34, took two of three games and ended a streak of 15 straight winning or tied series for the major league-best Phillies (38-16), Philadelphia’s longest streak since 1983-84.
"We can play good baseball if we play baseball the right way," Rockies starter Cal Quantrill said. "I think that these last two or three weeks, we’ve done a better job of that. We’ll try and build on that and continue to be a thorn in the rest of the league’s side."
Suárez (9-1) allowed season highs of five runs and four walks in six innings, while giving up four earned runs and three hits with eight strikeouts. His ERA rose from 1.36 to 1.75.
"It felt like the guys were doing a really good job of being short, staying off the stuff down below the zone," McMahon said of Suárez. "It’s tough. He makes it look so good, like it’s going to stay in the zone and then it just dashes out of the way. He got us a couple of times, but I feel like we did it well enough in the first two innings and it worked out for us."
Quantrill (4-3) gave up two runs and three hits in six innings.
"I want them to feel like we’re winning a baseball game when I start," Quantrill said. "I think we’re improving. It’s starting to feel that way. Gone on good streaks a few times in my career, but here, I think part of it is creating that belief that, hey, I don’t care who’s on the other side. We can win this game."
Tyler Kinley pitched a perfect ninth for his second save of the season, finishing a five-hitter.
McMahon’s team-leading 10th home run of the season put the Rockies ahead, and Colorado boosted the lead to 5-0 in the second. Hunter Goodman hit an RBI double, Brendan Rodgers hit into a run-scoring forceout as third baseman Alec Bohm threw wildly past first for an error in trying for an inning-ending double play as a second run scored.
Suárez retired his final 13 batters.
"The first two innings, I didn’t have command of my changeup or my curveball," Suárez said through an interpreter. "My fastball wasn’t going for strikes, either. I think that was the game right there. When I finally was able to adjust, which I did, we were already five down."
Bohm had an RBI single in the fourth and Johan Rojas hit a run-scoring single in the fifth.
J.T. Realmuto singled in the eighth and extended his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest for a Phillies catcher since Tim McCarver hit in 15 straight in 1977.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: Placed OF Jordan Beck (broken left hand) on the 10-day IL and recalled OF Sean Bouchard from Triple-A Albuquerque. Beck was hurt while making a diving catch Saturday night.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Taijuan Walker (3-0, 5.06 ERA) will face San Francisco and LHP Blake Snell (0-3, 11.40) on Monday.
Rockies: LHP Austin Gomber (1-2, 2.76 ERA) will take the mound at home Monday against Cleveland and RHP Xzavion Curry (0-0, 1.93).