Without his best stuff, Suárez does what he does best in win vs. Braves

PHILADELPHIA -- Unlike his past two outings, Ranger Suárez did not have his best stuff on Friday night against the Braves.

But the left-hander did what he does best: Found a way to get the job done.

Despite allowing a season-high-tying 10 hits over five innings, Suárez limited the damage to only one run. That kept the Phillies in it long enough for Alec Bohm's go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to be the difference in a 2-1 win at Citizens Bank Park.

Suárez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first. He limited the damage to a lone run in the second by getting an inning-ending double play with runners on the corners. He pitched around a leadoff double by Ronald Acuña Jr. in the third. He induced another inning-ending double play with two on in the fourth, then danced out of trouble in the fifth when Nick Castellanos threw out Matt Olson at the plate to complete a third double play.

There are times when Suárez is utterly dominant -- such as his past two starts when he struck out 21, walked zero and allowed only seven hits over 13 2/3 innings.

There are other times, though, when Suárez has to battle the way he did on Friday night. He's OK with that, too.

In fact, this was Suárez's second career start in which he limited the damage to no more than one run despite allowing at least 10 hits in fewer than seven innings. He also did it against the Marlins on Aug. 1, 2023. Those two such outings match the total by all other pitchers in Phillies history combined.

But that’s just how thin the margins are this time of year. The Phillies aren’t going to score 19 runs or get four homers from Kyle Schwarber every night.

“Nights like last night aren’t typically what you’re going to see in a playoff-type of game, right?” Bohm said. “So being able to just stay in a game all the way through the end and find a way to win in the end -- play good defense, pitch well and get timely hits -- that’s kind of what playoff baseball is about.”

More often than not come October, it’s going to be one inning -- or even one play -- that dictates a ballgame. That’s why Rob Thomson inserted Harrison Bader as a defensive replacement for Nick Castellanos with the Phillies clinging to a one-run lead in the ninth inning -- something he hasn’t done since the June 16 game in Miami that led to Castellanos sitting a game after expressing his displeasure.

“He makes near the last out in the eighth inning, so we put Bader in because he's the best defender we've got,” Thomson said.

Of course, all of those things become easier if the Phillies get the dominant version of Suárez -- but they can't be picky right now.

Between Zack Wheeler's season-ending surgery and trading away Mick Abel at the Trade Deadline, the Phils have little depth beyond their five current starters. The thought all season had been that top prospect Andrew Painter would inevitably join the rotation at some point, but that's yet to happen -- and there's no guarantee it will.

After a couple promising outings with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Painter's woes returned on Thursday night when he allowed six runs off nine hits and three walks over six innings. He has a 5.36 ERA in 19 starts with the IronPigs.

"It's really the same story. Stuff was excellent. Changeup was excellent," Thomson said. " ... But it's just fastball command, that's really what it comes down to. But the stuff is there."

With active rosters set to expand from 26 to 28 on Monday, the Phillies could call up a starter-type for the next turn through the rotation. Painter would have been at the top of the list if not for his struggles.

Philadelphia's starters could use the breather.

Suárez has pitched 131 innings since making his season debut on May 3. That's tied with teammate Cristopher Sánchez for the second most in the Majors during that span (Logan Webb of the Giants, 132 1/3 IP). Meanwhile, Jesús Luzardo has thrown 149 innings after tallying just 66 2/3 last season.

"If we needed a day, we could always do a bullpen day, especially when we add whoever we add in September," Thomson said. "So, we've got some options."

Any of those options would strictly be about getting the Phillies’ starters to October as fresh as possible. Once there, though, they'll need their horses to carry the load -- regardless of how they get it done.

“Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he can manufacture outs just by pitching and keeping people off-balance and reading swings,” Thomson said of Suárez. “He’s really intelligent that way.”