For six innings on Thursday night, Jesús Luzardo looked like he’d solved one of his summer problems. No traffic. No stress. One run, three hits, and not a single knock with a man on base. The left-hander, who had battled out of the stretch for much of the year, was cruising.
And then the seventh inning happened.
Paul DeJong drew a leadoff walk. Riley Adams ripped a double into the left-center gap. Daylen Lile walked to load the bases. Just like that, Luzardo’s night was over. Rob Thomson turned to Orion Kerkering, but José Tena rolled a one-out grounder past the drawn-in infield to score DeJong and Adams, flipping a 2-1 Phillies lead into a 3-2 deficit.
Luzardo’s line closed at six-plus innings, four hits, three earned runs, two walks, and his sixth loss of the year. And for the third straight game, the Phillies’ bats stayed quiet, scoring just three runs total in that stretch.
They had their chances against Nationals starter Brad Lord, who has a 2.77 ERA in five starts since rejoining the rotation on July 22. In the third, with runners on the corners and nobody out, Kyle Schwarber struck out, Bryce Harper bounced into a fielder’s choice to score Bryson Stott, and J.T. Realmuto popped out.
In the fifth, Edmundo Sosa walked to lead off and was thrown out trying to steal second; two batters later, Trea Turner singled and scored on Schwarber’s double off the wall in center — a hit that would have easily scored Sosa.
Lord also had defensive help, with Dylan Crews making a lunging grab in right and Josh Bell smothering a grounder at first to help strand Brandon Marsh in the sixth.
Once Lord exited after six innings of two-run ball, the Phillies faced four relievers and collected only three singles. Max Kepler’s leadoff hit in the ninth was their last gasp. Sosa bunted him to second, Stott grounded him to third, but Turner struck out against rookie Cole Henry, who earned his first career save.
Turner finished with three infield singles and scored one of the Phillies’ two runs, but they stranded eight men.
Philadelphia didn’t arrive in Washington until Thursday afternoon because of a travel delay after Wednesday night’s loss in Cincinnati, but the bigger issue was an offense that hasn’t scored more than two runs in a game since last Sunday.
DeJong’s homer in the fourth tied things at 1-1, Schwarber’s double in the fifth gave them their final lead, and then the seventh inning — and the silence — took care of the rest.
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