Phillies’ Ranger Suárez set for biggest career start in World Series Game 3

The Phillies will look to Ranger Suárez in Game 3 of the World Series.

Game 3 of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros was postponed Monday night due to rain.

While the game being pushed back to Tuesday was frustrating to fans wo have waited 13 years to see a Fall Classic game in South Philadelphia, the postponement did allow manager Rob Thomson to restructure his pitching staff for the remainder of the series.

Instead of Noah Syndergaard, the Phillies will instead turn to left-hander Ranger Suárez on Tuesday night — as the club attempts to take a 2-1 series lead. Suárez has come up big for the Phillies all season — but has especially excelled in the postseason.

The left-hander has been used as both a starter and reliever for Thomson’s pitching staff and has been effective in both roles. In his two starts this postseason, Suárez has given up just two earned runs in 8 1/3 innings pitched. Both starts came against solid teams in the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.

As a reliever, Suárez has pitched 1 1/3 innings — his most memorable being the save he recorded in Game 5 of the NLCS, as he was on the mound as the Phillies clinched the National League pennant for the first time since 2009. Suárez also came on in relief in Game 1 of the World Series and made a spectacular defensive play, as Alex Bregman hit a hard comebacker to the mound. Suárez handled it with all the calmness in the world.

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm recently praised his teammate:

"“He might not know it’s the World Series, Ranger is the calmest guy I’ve ever played with, really. It doesn’t matter the situation.”"

Suárez will look to continue to be unfazed by the situation as he takes the mound Tuesday in what is certainly the most important start of his career. This will arguably be the toughest lineup from top to bottom that the left-hander has seen this postseason. The Astros are a right-handed heavy lineup. However, in the postseason, Suárez has limited righties to just a .125 batting average.

The Phillies hope that Suárez’s calmness and effectiveness can give them a series lead. Taking Game 3 would be crucial, as the Phillies will still have two remaining home games.

Yet to have lost a postseason game at Citizens Bank Park in 2022, the Phillies surely have home-field advantage in “Red October,” or what is now “Red November.”