PHILADELPHIA — Jesús Luzardo never pitched into the ninth inning over his first 149 career starts and had to block out the exhilaration he felt on the mound when he finally got that chance.
The Phillies' All-Star left-hander walked to the mound to a roaring ovation and with his warmup music — usually played in the first inning — cranked inside the ballpark as he tried to treat the final inning like any other.
“Just think about the pitch in front of you,” Luzardo said.
Luzardo was economical and efficient in the ninth with his pitches against the Atlanta Braves and looked to the sky in appreciation as he got the final out in Philadelphia's 1-0 win on Monday in 1 hour, 51 minutes, the fastest game in baseball this season.
He struck out 12 and tossed two-hit ball with only one walk for his first career complete game.
“Everyone dreams about being a guy your team relies on,” Luzardo said. “Just going out there when, I don't want to call it a must-win, but a big win, it feels good.”
The Phillies split a four-game series with the NL East-leading Braves and cut the division lead to four games in front of a holiday crowd of 41,820. They play three more next weekend in Atlanta.
Phillies manager Don Mattingly said there was no doubt Luzardo was going back out for the ninth.
“I knew Donnie probably wouldn't let me go too much more,” Luzardo said. “Thankful for Donnie for giving me a chance to go back out there in the ninth.”
Luzardo at least had some run support when he took the mound to a standing ovation as the familiar Meek Mill tune “Dreams and Nightmares” played to a packed Citizens Bank Park.
Kyle Schwarber got Luzardo the win when he socked his MLB-leading 43rd homer into the second deck against reliever Didier Fuentes.
Schwarber hit his 11th career go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later. It was only the Phillies' fourth hit of the game.
The Phillies had left the bases loaded in the first inning against Braves starter Grant Holmes.
“We expect to win a baseball game when we walk out of these doors,” Schwarber said.
The NL pitcher of the month for August, Luzardo (14-5) didn’t walk a batter until the ninth inning and retired the final two batters to complete the 109-pitch gem. He threw 78 strikes.
It was the franchise’s fastest nine-inning game since July 4, 1989, vs. Cincinnati.
Luzardo's sweeper kept the Braves off balance all game — he had 12 total swings-and-misses on his go-to pitch and five strikeouts on his fastball — and he gave the Phillies bullpen a needed day off after a rough late-game collapse a day earlier.
“I felt really good going back out in the ninth,” Luzardo said. “It could have been adrenaline or emotions or whatever it could have been.”
In his last 21 starts since May 14, Luzardo has posted a 1.93 ERA over 135 innings, striking out 164 batters while surrendering only 39 walks. The Phillies are 18-3 in those games.
Luzardo won only eight total games over 30 starts when he played for Mattingly with the Miami Marlins in 2021 and 2022. He contended with various injuries over the early part of his career, and the Marlins traded him to the Phillies for two prospects in December 2024.
Mattingly had a hunch there was much more talent lurking inside Luzardo than what he flashed in parts of six seasons with Oakland and the Marlins.
“Stuff-wise, he looked the same,” Mattingly said. “He always looked like this. It was just not enough strikes.”
Luzardo powered his way through the zone against a loaded lineup and settled the nerves of Phillies fans frothing for some sort of vengeance against the Braves.
Mattingly brushed off the suggestion that old-school retaliation should be on the table against Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr., who flapped his arms and stutter-stepped around third base after he hit a tying three-run homer in Sunday's 5-4 win and gave himself a curtain call to the irritation of Phillies fans.
The days of a fastball to the ribs to send a message has about gone the way of the neighborhood play.
“That's just not part of the game now,” Mattingly said. “I think it's about making pitches. Getting the ball to the right spots.”
Luzardo simply made Acuña uncomfortable at the plate, much to the delight of the fans who reveled in booing the Phillies' foil.
Acuña was retired on one pitch in each of his first two at-bats and was 0 for 3 before he walked in the ninth.
No matter.
Luzardo struck out Drake Baldwin and got Ozzie Albies to fly out on the first pitch to end the game.
Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh gleefully tossed Luzardo the game ball and the winning pitcher said he would gift it to his parents.
Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski has posited himself as the NL Cy Young Award front-runner, yet much like the Phillies and Braves, Luzardo is lurking, in the hunt and determined to finish in first.
“He keeps finding a way to get better and better,” Schwarber said, “which is awesome.”
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