Phillies snatch another win off Rockies behind a solid outing from pitcher Jesús Luzardo

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 4, 2026

Published in Baseball

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DENVER — Coors Field might be known as a hitter’s paradise, but that was not the case on Saturday when Jesús Luzardo was on the mound.

The Phillies’ left-hander overcame the higher altitude and the large outfield susceptible to extra-base hits to shut down the Colorado Rockies’ offense for 6 2/3 innings. Luzardo limited Colorado to one run on five hits — all singles — in the Phillies’ 2-1 win.

The thinner air in Denver can make pitches, especially breaking balls, move less than normal. And sure enough, Luzardo’s trademark sweeper averaged just seven inches of vertical break on Saturday. In his first start at Citizens Bank Park, the pitch had 12 inches of break.

But even so, Luzardo’s command was pinpoint enough to get six whiffs and four of his 11 total strikeouts with the pitch. He did not walk a batter.

It was a worthy follow-up performance to Friday’s start from Aaron Nola, who held the Rockies to a single run over 6 1/3 innings. But Luzardo had much less run support to work with.

In the first inning, Kyle Schwarber’s bat split in half making contact with a cutter from Rockies opener Brennan Bernardino. A piece of his bat wound up in shallow right field, while the ball dropped just inside the left-field line for a double. Trea Turner, who had drawn a leadoff walk, scored from first base for a 1-0 lead.

The Rockies tied things up in the third inning. Luzardo allowed a leadoff single to Troy Johnston, who advanced to second after a wild pitch got by J.T. Realmuto. Johnston then advanced to third on a sacrifice fly, and scored on another single. Luzardo stranded the runner with a groundout and strikeout.

Turner drove in the winning run in the fifth inning, punching a line drive into left field for a double that scored Brandon Marsh from third.

Manager Rob Thomson lifted Luzardo with two outs in the seventh with his pitch count at 99, leaving a runner on second base for José Alvarado. The lefty reliever walked the first batter he faced on five pitches and then took Kyle Karros to a full count. Karros chased on a cutter inside to strike out and preserve the Phillies’ slim lead.

Brad Keller pitched the eighth and stranded the tying run at third base. A leadoff single got past Trea Turner into center field, and pinch-running Jake McCarthy advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a groundout. Hunter Goodman flew out to right field to end the inning.

With former Phillies closer and Colorado native Brad Lidge watching in the stands, Jhoan Duran earned his third save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.