Four months ago on a spring day in Clearwater, the Phillies hosted the Twins and a lineup of regulars struck out seven times in three innings against 6-foot-9 right-hander Bailey Ober.
"If he's gonna be 95-96 (mph), good luck to everyone in the (AL) Central," Bryce Harper said of the ascending 29-year-old a little while after departing the Grapefruit League game.
Ober wasn't 95-96 on Monday night in Minnesota and hasn't been this season, but it didn't matter after the first inning. Bryce Harper crushed a two-run homer to give the Phillies a quick lead they held until the bottom of the fifth, but Ober fooled most of the lineup with his changeup and cutter from there. He and two Twins relievers combined to retire 23 of the final 24 Phillies hitters of the game, with the only baserunner erased after two pitches on 1-6-3 double play.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The Phillies lost, 7-2, and are 63-37 through 100 games. They've dropped five of seven, matching June 9-16 (London, Boston, Baltimore) for their worst stretch of the season. The first night back from the break, they scored seven runs early and the bullpen faltered late. In two of the last three, they haven't hit.
Ranger Suarez returned to the rotation after missing the All-Star Game with back tightness and threw 79 pitches over 5⅓ innings. He had a long third inning but was otherwise clean through the first four, then the game changed when he allowed three straight hits to open the bottom of the fifth. The Phillies went from up one to down one and the Twins tacked on an insurance run in the seventh off Seranthony Dominguez, then three more in the eighth against an erratic Yunior Marte.
Regarding Suarez, the most important part was that he looked healthy. His sinker averaged nearly 2 mph more than it did in his last outing before the All-Star break. He obviously is not pitching at the level of his first 15 starts, a streak unsustainable even for Hall of Famers. Suarez had a 1.75 ERA through June 24 and a 6.67 ERA in five starts since. Overall, he's 10-5 with a 2.87 ERA.
Though they lost for the third time in four games out of the All-Star break, the Phillies didn't lose any ground in the NL East as the Braves dropped their third straight. The Phils' lead in the division remains 8½ games.
Philadelphia Phillies
Zack Wheeler makes his return Tuesday night after missing a start with back spasms. It's his first in 14 days and he threw 76 pitches in that one, so he'll likely be limited to a similar number. The Phillies expect Brandon Marsh back after he missed Monday's game with a sore right elbow.