Citizens Bank Park was still stuck in euphoric shock as David Robertson walked two batters in the ninth to put the go-ahead run on base. No matter the final score, Bryce Harper’s legendary two-run blast in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the 2022 National League Championship Series would live forever in Phillies lore, but it was in danger of not being the winning run. Yet, that fact had not sunk in to the crowd of 45,485.
The Phillies had a left hander warming up in the bullpen. It wasn’t José Alvarado. He already pitched a scoreless eighth inning and was in line for the victory. It was not Brad Hand, who gave up two runs in Game 4. Command issues come and go with Robertson, so it was tough for Rob Thomson to keep the veteran pitcher in to try to get the final two outs.
Game 3 starter Ranger Suárez snuck into the bullpen during the middle innings. The Phillies did not ask him to close per se — they wanted him to be ready for whatever spot they needed him. He was pulled after just 68 pitches in Game 3. He could have pitched multiple innings in a Game 7, but this was the spot for the guy who was a stud closer for the Phillies for one month last season.
There was a pause when Robertson walked off the mound. With Alvarado and Seranthony Domínguez out, who could possibly get the final two outs? Thomson hinted the day before that he might be trying to stay away from Zach Eflin after pitching back-to-back days.
The camera panned to Suárez in the bullpen. He fidgeted a bit with the dirt and his pants before going down the stairs. It wasn’t quite a late 90s Stone Cold Steve Austin surprise entrance pop, but there was a gasp and a roar when the collective bunch realized that Suárez was really about to enter the game. The loudspeakers blasted his walk-out tune Mr. Rager by Kid Cudi, a song about facing death. The usually calm Suárez looked petrified.
Then Trent Grisham, who was hitless in 18 LCS at-bats, did the unthinkable to break the tension. He bunted on the first pitch. Suárez was the best fielding pitcher in baseball this season, but Grisham wanted to see if the wet conditions could create chaos. As terrified as Suárez looked walking to the mound, he fearlessly snagged the ball and fired it to first for the second out of the inning.
It was up to Austin Nola to save the series for San Diego. A base hit could give his team the lead, but he had been hitless since he drove in a run against his younger bother Aaron in Game 2. The older Nola went after a curveball on the outer half for a lazy pop up between Jean Segura and Nick Castellanos. The ball landed in Castellanos’ glove and just like that, the Phillies were National League Champions for the eighth time in franchise history.
“It’s a moment full of joy,” Suárez said through a team interpreter. “It’s a moment that I thought about the whole series and it finally happened.”
Eflin, the Phillie who has dealt with every bad break you can imagine, offered some brash praise for Suárez.
“Honestly, man, he’s got the biggest balls I’ve ever seen in my life,” Eflin said. “That’s what’s great about this team. I probably shouldn’t say this but we play with our balls. We don’t play with our head.”
The moment belonged to Ranger. He signed with the club on April 1, 2012 at age 16 and made his Phillies debut at 22 in 2018. He pitched to a solid 3.68 ERA in his first two seasons an an up-and-down long reliever on the roster bubble and had a chance to win a spot in the Phillies rotation in March 2020. Suárez was isolated for a month in a Clearwater hotel in the middle of the summer as a battle with COVID robbed him of contributing in a meaningful way during the shortened pandemic season.
With no minor league options left, Suárez’s Phillies career was on the line in 2021. All he did was excel in three different roles for the Phillies, pitch to a 1.36 ERA and establish himself as a mainstay in the middle of the rotation.
As FOX’s Tom Verducci asked Thomson about the decision to pitch Suárez during the on-field trophy presentation, the crowd took a moment to salute the charming Phillies lefty as he waved a rally towel. It was the highlight of the staged celebration.
He will presumably go from pennant closer to the first Phillie to start a World Series game in Philadelphia since Cliff Lee on November 2, 2009. It’s a fitting honor for a lifelong Phillie.
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