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Philadelphia Phillies' Lefty Misses Out on Chance to Join Legendary Team History

Ranger Suarez was roughed up on Sunday afternoon by the Miami Marlins, meaning the Philadelphia Phillies' hurler fell just shy of joining some incredible team history.

Brady Farkas

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) pitches in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on June 25.
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) pitches in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on June 25. / David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports
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The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 7-6 on Sunday afternoon but left-handed pitcher Ranger Suarez missed out on a chance to join some incredible team history.

Before the game on Sunday, @JayHayKid of the "Baseball is Dead" podcast put this note out on social media:

Ranger Suárez (1.83 ERA) is trying to become the first Phillies pitcher since Steve Carlton in 1980 to have an ERA below 2.00 through his first 17 starts of a season.

It would have been great to join Carlton, who is a Hall of Famer, but Suarez was roughed up by Miami, giving up six earned runs and nine hits over 4.2 innings. As a result of the outing, his ERA has swelled to 2.27.

Even despite that, Suarez seems certain to earn a nod on the National League All-Star team. He also seems certain to get some Cy Young consideration as well. He's 10-2 this year with that 2.27 ERA. He's struck out 99 batters in 103.0 innings and has pitched to a 0.98 WHIP.

Furthermore, he's added another dimension to an already good Phillies' starting rotation that features Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.

The Phillies currently have the best record in baseball at 55-29 and are looking to get back to the NLCS or better for the third straight season.

There are only three games around baseball on Monday night, so the Phillies are off. They'll be back in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Chicago to take on the Cubs.

First pitch is 8:05 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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