The Philadelphia Phillies find themselves in a tough spot following a 7-2 loss at the hands of the New York Mets in Game 3 of the NLDS. The Phillies' flat offense struggled to solve Mets starter Sean Manaea, who tossed seven innings while only allowing three hits and one run, bringing the Mets one game closer to advancing to the NLCS.
The Phillies now find themselves in a win-or-go-home situation, with all attention shifting to winning Game 4 on Wednesday and keeping the team's postseason ambitions alive for another day. With Ranger Suárez slated to toe the rubber in an elimination game, Phillies manager Rob Thomson will skip the temptation to bring Zack Wheeler back on short rest. He'll instead hand the ball to Suárez, whose struggles in the latter half of the season have been well-documented.
Asked if Zack Wheeler would be available out of the bullpen in Game 4, Rob Thomson said he thinks everyone will be. (Not Nola, obviously).
— Corey Seidman (@CSeidmanNBCS) October 9, 2024
With Topper hinting at the possibility of using his full arsenal of pitchers on Wednesday afternoon, the question shifts to how efficient Suárez will be against a Mets lineup that had no problem in Game 3 against Aaron Nola. Following an encouraging two innings of work in last week's intrasquad game, Phillies fans are understandably hoping for the best while also preparing for the worst.
Phillies' NLDS Game 4 starter Ranger Suárez offers glimmer of hope ahead of potential elimination
Prior to the start of Game 3 on Tuesday, Suárez and interpreter Diego D'aniello spoke to assembled media and fielded questions regarding his readiness and confidence heading into his crucial Game 4 start. Suárez has never been one to lack confidence on the mound, and his disposition remained unchanged when answering questions from the media.
"My adjustment during the intrasquad game, I think we did a really good job on that one," said Suárez. "I executed a couple of pitches and I felt good and I think I'm going to have that rolling on to tomorrow as well.
"I felt good, I felt really good on that one. What happens in September, stays in September. It's time to turn the page, just forget about it. I'm not thinking about it as much as we're in October now. So it's a different atmosphere. It's a different vibe as well."
The September struggles Suárez made reference to is what makes Game 4's start an anxious proposition for Phillies fans. Suárez was 1-2 while recording an ERA of 6.04, in addition to striking out 17 and walking 12. The Phillies will need the southpaw to be much better than that in Game 4 with the season and advancement to the NLCS on the line.
With all of those expectations falling squarely on Suárez's shoulders, he made clear that last month's struggles are now in the rearview mirror.
"We're thinking about the now right now and just not getting stuck on those bad starts, just getting over them, turning the page over. I feel good physically, that's all I'm thinking right now," added Suárez.
After Tuesday's uninspired loss against the Mets, the Phillies have obvious room for improvement in just about every area of the game at the moment, and the success or failure of Suárez in Game 4 will certainly be scrutinized after the fact.
With nine innings and 27 outs remaining, the series could still go in many different directions. Let's hope one of those directions includes a game being played on Friday at home in Philadelphia.