The vaunted Philadelphia Phillies offense didn't have a third straight comeback in them on Wednesday night as they finished off their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, after keeping his team in the game, trailing just 3-0 through seven innings, Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo was hung out to dry.
With his lefty starter already at 100 pitches, Phillies manager Rob Thomson made the rather questionable decision to send Luzardo back out to the mound to start the eighth inning. Instead of a left-handed batter lower in the lineup, Luzardo was tasked with facing Shohei Ohtani, only the best player in the game, for a fourth time.
It didn't go well. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Ohtani launched a solo home run 408 feet to right field. The sweeper that Luzardo left out of the plate made for an easy 51st round-tripper for Ohtani. It also made any thought of a late-inning comeback in the top of the ninth that much more difficult.
Luzardo was done at that point. The Dodgers tacked on another run against Orion Kerkering to seal the 5-0 win, salvaging the final game of the series.
Back-to-back games with a homer from Shohei! pic.twitter.com/r5k8iRi9Ql
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 18, 2025
Rob Thomson had to answer for his decision to send Jesús Luzardo against Shohei Ohtani a fourth time
Thomson's decision to send Luzardo out there to face Ohtani raised some eyebrows and questions from the media after the game.
"That was his last hitter, left on left, he handled him pretty good all night," Thomson said in his defense when asked about sending Luzardo back out in the eighth. "[He just left] a 2-2 slider in the middle of the plate."
It's true that Luzardo had retired Ohtani the first three times they faced off on Wednesday — he induced a groundout in the first, got Ohtani to strand a runner at third on a lineout to left field to end the second, and struck him out on three pitches in the fifth — but it seemed like it was tempting fate to give the Dodgers' leadoff hitter a fourth look at the Phillies lefty.
Rob Thomson on why he let Jesús Luzardo face Shohei Ohtani a fourth time, and the lefty’s outing overall…
— On Pattison (@OnPattison) September 18, 2025
(Via @AntSanPhilly) pic.twitter.com/dsWqXy7YE4
Thomson's decision didn't cost the Phillies the game, but it did cost Luzardo a quality start. Instead of seeing his season-long ERA drop a couple of points, it rose from 4.03 to 4.08. He finished with a line of four runs on six hits (two homers) with six strikeouts and just one walk in seven innings. He's 1-1 against the Dodgers this season after throwing seven shutout innings against the reigning World Series champions in early April.
This was the eighth time that Luzardo has completed at least seven innings this year. He's now 14-7 in 31 starts, with 206 strikeouts in 176 2/3 innings. Not that he got any run support for his troubles.
The bats were unable to do much of anything against Dodgers starter Blake Snell, managing just two hits and a pair of walks in seven innings against the lefty. They did get their third hit of the game in the ninth and combined with a Bryce Harper walk, got two on base, but the Dodgers' bullpen held firm for the first time all series.