Jesús Luzardo falters as Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park

PHILADELPHIA — The sell-out crowd that packed Citizens Bank Park on Friday night was treated to a four-run Phillies outburst before most patrons had settled into their seats, only to watch the early euphoria dissolve into a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The turning point arrived in the fifth inning, when left-hander Jesús Luzardo—pitching on six days’ rest after an 11-strikeout masterpiece in Colorado—lost both the plot and the lead.

Luzardo carried a no-hitter into the fifth and owned a 4-0 cushion, but a cascade of walks, deep counts and a critical defensive misfire flipped the script. The southpaw’s final offering, a 2-0 sinker meant to steal a strike, instead caught too much plate; catcher James McCann rifled it toward the right-field warning track, plating two runs and prompting manager Rob Thomson to signal for the bullpen.

“I was falling behind too much all game,” Luzardo said afterward, his voice barely rising above the clubhouse din. “I felt like I was 2-0 on every guy, which is just unacceptable, and eventually it caught up to me in the fifth.”

The numbers bore out his assessment. Of 86 pitches, only 51 found the zone, a sharp drop from the 72 strikes he pumped in 99 pitches during his dominant outing in Denver. Eight strikeouts—one coming amid the fifth-inning turbulence—were not enough to offset five hits and five earned runs that ballooned his season ERA to 6.23.

Arizona’s right-handed bats did the bulk of the damage against a pitch Luzardo rarely featured in 2023: the sinker. He threw 17 of them Friday, the highest percentage in any of his starts over the past four seasons. Three consecutive sinker-related sequences in the fifth keyed the rally: a first-pitch bunt that third baseman Alec Bohm failed to convert into an out loaded the bases, and a pair of hits on 1-0 and 2-0 counts brought the Diamondbacks within a run before McCann’s double sealed Luzardo’s line.

“We need to get an out right there, you know?” Thomson said of the bunt play. “We had a four-run lead. We need to come and get the ball, be aggressive and get an out at first base.”

The Phillies’ offense, dormant since a four-run burst in the opening frame, mustered little against Michael Soroka and a succession of right-handed relievers. Justin Crawford’s two-out triple in the ninth stirred hope, but Trea Turner’s fly ball to center ended the threat and sent the Phillies to their seventh loss in 13 games.

Philadelphia has plated a majors-low 46 runs through the season’s first two weeks while posting a .662 OPS, the club’s worst 13-game offensive start since 2016. Yet the clubhouse mantra remains unchanged.

“It’s early, man,” said Brandon Marsh, whose first-inning homer ignited the early fireworks.

For Luzardo, the path forward is clearer: attack the zone early, avoid self-inflicted traffic, and trust the swing-and-miss stuff that surfaced in Colorado. If he can marry that aggression with the lessons of Friday’s collapse, the Phillies believe their homecoming hangover will prove temporary.

They’ll get 16 hours to reset before trying again.