PHILADELPHIA -- It happened again to Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo.
It happened again to the Phillies' offense.
Luzardo got hit hard in Wednesday night’s 11-2 loss to the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park, with batters swinging at his pitches as if they knew what was coming. Even if the Cubs had no clue about Luzardo’s offerings, his recent struggles have looked similar to a two-start stretch last season in which he allowed 20 runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Brewers (May 31) and Blue Jays (June 5).
After those starts, the Phillies determined Luzardo had been tipping his pitches.
“I’m not tipping,” Luzardo said Wednesday. “We worked tirelessly to make sure of that.”
But Luzardo is 1-3 with a 7.94 ERA in four starts, allowing 28 hits in 22 2/3 innings as the Phillies have allowed double-digit runs in consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 10-11, 2024, in Arizona. Luzardo allowed 12 hits, nine runs (eight earned), one walk and one home run while striking out four in 5 1/3 innings against the Cubs.
His stuff has been mostly excellent.
His results have not.
“Just kind of the same stories all year,” Luzardo said. “I felt like they put some good swings on a couple good pitches. I feel like the [three-run] third inning was just an unfortunate series of events. … It was a mixed bag.”
The Cubs were 6-for-18 (.333) with two doubles with nobody on base. They were 6-for-8 (.750) with one double, one home run and one walk with runners on base.
Overall, through four starts, teams are 13-for-59 and slashing .220/.258/.271 with three doubles against Luzardo with nobody on base. They are 15-for-34 and slashing .441/.472/.765 with two doubles and three home runs with runners on base.
“All my throws in between starts are out of the stretch,” Luzardo said. “We continue to work at that. Obviously, that’s something that is kind of biting me, so it’s something that we’ve got to fix ASAP. It’s not tipping, so it’s got to be something else. Whether it’s pitch usage or -- I don’t know. I don’t want to speculate. I kind of want to dive deeper into it.”
Pitch sequencing is one thing that Luzardo and the Phillies' pitching coaches will look at.
But clearly this isn’t the start that Luzardo wanted. He finished so strong last year that he earned a five-year, $135 million contract extension in March.
He reminded everybody that he has 28 starts to go.
But this also isn’t the start the Phillies wanted. They are 8-10. It is their worst start through 18 games since 2023 (7-11).
“You’ve got to keep grinding,” manager Rob Thomson said. “We're going through a tough time right now in all phases of the game. I don't think that's any secret, but we're going to get better. We're a good club.”
It has been sloppy at times. The Phils made five errors in the Cubs series. They made two big baserunning errors in Sunday’s loss to the Diamondbacks. There have been mistakes before that, too.
The offense hasn’t hit for most of the season.
Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga allowed one run on three hits and one walk and struck out 11 in six innings. He got 26 swings and misses, which were the most by a pitcher against the Phillies since Jacob deGrom got 35 on Sept. 6, 2020.
“Obviously, we want to win,” said Bryce Harper, who hit a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth after position player Dylan Moore pitched the top half. “It’s the main goal of why we’re here. You never want to lose games. Obviously, it’s early in the season, but I don’t like that notion because I like to win games in April as much as I like to win games in September.”
The Phillies have a day off on Thursday. They will open a three-game series on Friday night against the Braves (12-7), who are in first place in the NL East. It is quaint to think that the offense might reset itself following the off-day.
“I don't think an off-day should be the reason why we're going to play good on Friday,” Harper said. “We should expect to play good every day, and as a team and as an offense, defense, everything. Just got to keep going. And, like I said, win the month, and we’ll see where we’re at.”