TORONTO — Max Scherzer motioned for a mound visit.
The Phillies had put two runners on against him, and the veteran Blue Jays pitcher just ran to cover first base on a fielder’s choice. He wanted a breather before facing Alec Bohm.
But it didn’t work. After play resumed, Scherzer hung a slider to Bohm, and he crushed it for his eighth homer of the season. The three-run shot to left field gave the Phillies some early separation in the third inning as they went on to beat Toronto, 7-4, and win the series.
The Blue Jays made things interesting late, clawing back against the Phillies bullpen to pull within three runs and make it a save situation. But a day after blowing his first save of the season, Jhoan Duran made his third appearance in as many nights in the ninth inning. He sidestepped two singles to seal the win, recording his 17th save in the process.
“It was great to see him bounce back,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “And you like to get a guy back out there if you can, right away.”
Adolis García left the game in the seventh inning with a pulled muscle in the right shoulder area after making a throw to the plate. Steward Berroa took over in right field.
Mattingly said that García will get imaging on Thursday’s off day, after which the Phillies will know more about the severity of the injury.
“Hope for the best, and we’ll see what happens,” Mattingly said.
According to StatCast metrics, García has posted a fielding run value of 5 this season, which is second-highest in the league among corner outfielders.
“Obviously, you lose a defender like that, it changes things a little bit,” Mattingly said. “But everybody deals with stuff all the time, so somebody’s going to have to pick it up.”
Scherzer was making his first start for Toronto since hitting the injured list on April 27. The 41-year-old had struggled this season before that, and the Phillies stayed patient in their approach against him, working at-bats and driving up his pitch count.
Bryce Harper set the tone in the first inning with a solo homer that bounced off Toronto’s bullpen railing that put the Phillies up, 1-0.
“Everyone’s excited, and then [he gets] back out there, and then we kind of jumped right back on him, and got Max’s pitch count going up,” Kyle Schwarber said. “And Bohmer had a really great swing there, three-run homer, and we just were able to keep tacking on.”
Once Scherzer’s night ended after 3⅓ innings, Schwarber didn’t let up against Toronto’s bullpen. He launched his eighth homer of the season off a left-hander in the fourth inning, with Mason Fluharty becoming his latest victim.
It marks Schwarber’s first homer since June 3. He took batting practice on the field pregame Thursday, which is not always part of his routine. He often hits inside in the cages.
“I wanted to go out there and work on something, see the ball fly a little bit,” Schwarber said. “So I was able to get that result and felt comfortable about it.”
It all gave Jesús Luzardo a sizable cushion to work with as he cruised for the first five innings. He racked up eight strikeouts and held Toronto to four hits, all singles.
Luzardo did lose his command in some spots. He issued back-to-back walks in the third, but was able to reset after a mound visit and struck out Ernie Clement to end it.
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“I think it was good and bad. I think the walks are obviously very frustrating,” Luzardo said. “I beat myself up about that. I don’t like giving free passes, but I limited hard contact. Pitch count relatively stayed low, until the walks.”
Luzardo trains at Cressey Sports Performance in the offseason, the same facility that Scherzer does, and the two pitchers are friends.
“We talked about it a little bit when we got here,” Luzardo said. “So, I know he wanted that win, and I wanted it too, so it was a fun one.”
In the sixth, Luzardo issued back-to-back walks for the second time, but this time he couldn’t get out of it unscathed when backup catcher Brandon Valenzuela — who walked-off Duran on Tuesday night — singled to right field to score a run.
The Phillies got the run back in the top of the seventh inning, when Harper drew a walk, then Bohm and Bryson Stott hit back-to-back singles.
“We kept coming. I know this club enough, that they’re not going to stop playing, they’re going to keep going, and they’re dangerous,” said Mattingly. “They keep playing for nine innings.”
The Jays started to make things interesting in the seventh. Chase Shugart made his first appearance since June 6 and struggled with his command, issuing a leadoff single and then three consecutive walks to force in a run before recording an out. A deep sacrifice fly to the right field warning track brought home another run, and Brad Keller took over. Keller gave up a sacrifice fly that scored another run.
“Everything really went pretty well tonight, other than the one inning where we walked some guys,” Mattingly said. “Shug’s been really good, throwing strikes, pitching well. So that was a little out of the ordinary for us.”
José Alvarado pitched a scoreless eighth and struck out Valenzuela to reach 500 for his career. Duran took over for the ninth.
Mattingly felt comfortable using his closer for the third night in a row after Duran told him he felt good after his pregame catch routine.
“Jho’s pretty good about telling us,” Mattingly said. “There’s been times when we thought he’d be available, and he says he needed a day. Today was not one of those days, and he was adamant, and we kind of go with that.”
Fifty years ago, the All-Star Game came to Philadelphia as part of the bicentennial celebration. Larry Bowa was among five Phillies who represented the National League. With the Midsummer Classic returning to town next month, Bowa joined Phillies Extra to recall the atmosphere surrounding the 1976 game and being an All-Star at Veterans Stadium, as well as the state of the current Phillies. Watch here.
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Previous episodes: Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins | Terry Francona | Aaron Rowand | Hunter Pence | Paco Figueroa | Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola
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