Luzardo improved to 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA.
Luzardo is fun to watch when he is on the attack. He was fired up about something after getting Noelvi Marte to fly out to right field to end the second inning. Luzardo started pointing into the Reds’ dugout and even started to walk in that direction when home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook walked up to him.
Luzardo was cool the rest of the night.
He generated 20 swings and misses, including 12 coming on his sweeper. He struck out eight on his sweeper, the third-highest strikeout total on the pitch since he started throwing it last season. Luzardo got a career-high 10 K’s on June 23. He got seven on June 10.
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning. After Gabriel Rincones Jr. got hit by a pitch, pinch-runner Derek Hill advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and later scored on Justin Crawford’s single to right field.
Crawford entered the game batting .362 (25-for-69) with three doubles, one triple, seven RBIs and an .824 OPS in his previous 23 games.
