Ranger Suarez left Saturday’s start against the St. Louis Cardinals with what the Phillies are calling a left hand contusion.
Suarez took a liner off the bat of Alec Burleson to the hand in the second inning of Saturday’s start. Suarez recovered to make the play, retiring Burleson at first. But the ball came off the bat at 106.1 miles per hour, and Suarez was replaced by Jose Ruiz to start the third inning of what became a 6-1 Phillies win.
The Phillies said postgame that X-rays were negative, though Suarez does have swelling.
“Everything is good,“ Suárez said through a translator. ”Have to thank God on this one.”
Suarez retired all six batters he faced, lowering his ERA to a league-best 1.70. The National League pitcher of the month in April entered with a 9-1 record, and any time on the shelf would be a massive blow for the team with the best record in baseball. The Phillies have three days off in the next week around their trip to London. Suarez is slated to pitch the opener in London next Saturday.
“As soon as the ball hit me, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to continue,” he said, before joking. “I need to improve my pitches so that doesn’t happen again.”
