Jesús Luzardo fans 13, gives up five runs anyway

Luzardo threw his final pitch in a scoreless game., but Justin Crawford singled in pinch-runner Derek Hill in the top of the eighth to put the lefty in line for a win. Jonathan Bowlan and Jhoan Duran then finished up. Some weren’t happy about Luzardo’s All-Star selection, and there’s certainly a good argument that teammate Zack Wheeler would have been a better choice. Luzardo, though, has allowed two runs or fewer in 13 of his 19 starts and seems well on his way to his third strong season in the last four. He ends the first half 8-4 with a 3.52 ERA and a 136/35 K/BB in 110 1/3 innings. He’s fourth in the majors in strikeouts.

It’s a colossal bummer for baseball fans hoping to see Misiorowski hurling triple-digit heaters during next week’s Midsummer Classic, but this was always the expected outcome here. Skenes, Misorowski and Meyer are all taking the ball for their respective club’s first-half finales on Sunday, which means there was zero chance they would be able to pitch in the All-Star Game just three days later. Luzardo, Ashcraft and O’Brien are headed to the game for the first time in their respective careers. It’s likely going to be Shohei Ohtani taking the ball to start for the National League based on how things are lining up from a schedule standpoint.

That Luzardo’s bad outings have been particularly bad denied him an All-Star gig, but he’s 7-4 with a 3.75 ERA after tonight, and the Phillies are 12-6 in his starts. He walked none in this one and has a 125/33 K/BB through 103 1/3 innings. He’ll likely make his next start Thursday in Philadelphia.

Luzardo walked three and needed 96 pitches to get his 15 outs today, and that lack of efficiency might have cost him a win; the Phillies were ahead 3-1 when he departed, but Chase Shugart gave up three runs in the sixth as the Mets took the lead. Luzardo has allowed a total of five earned runs in his last four starts, and the Phillies have won each of his last seven outings, though Luzardo has settled for three victories during the span. He’s 6-4 with a 3.88 ERA overall, and he’ll be facing the Royals next time out.

Luzardo came back to haunt his former club in this one, falling just shy of his third double-digit strikeout performance of the season. He carried a shutout into the seventh inning before surrendering a two-run homer to speedster Esteury Ruiz. The 28-year-old southpaw remains prone to the occasional meltdown, which makes him a frustrating pitcher to roster for fantasy purposes, but he’s allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 of his 15 starts this season. He holds a pedestrian 4.20 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 97/27 K/BB ratio across 85 2/3 innings overall. He’ll face the Nationals in a road matchup his next time out on Monday to kick off a two-start week.

This was yet another frustrating outing for Luzardo. His final line was solid, but he pitched with a comfortable lead from the third inning on and struggled with his efficiency. This was on display in the sixth inning. He had a six run lead, forced a groundout from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to start the inning, and was at just 79 pitches. Then, he proceeded to walk both Ernie Clement and Kazuma Okamoto before giving up a run-scoring single and was pulled before completing the frame. He remains too reliant on his sweeper, which forced 10 of his 13 total swings-and-misses, when opposing lineups are stacked with right-handed batters. Again, this was a fine start, just one that he made more difficult than it should have been. He’s scheduled to face the Marlins at home next time out.

The White Sox got after Luzardo in the second inning after a scoreless first. After retiring the first two batters he faced in the frame, Luzardo would hit Sam Antonacci with a pitch, with Luisangel Acuña doubling home Antonacci on the following at-bat. Tristan Peters would then single to bring home Acuña, giving the White Sox an early 2-0 lead. Luzardo would be the beneficiary of a five-run second inning by the Phillies, which came in handy when he allowed a solo homer to Randal Grichuk to begin the third inning, and he would give up two more runs via solo homers before being pulled in the sixth inning. It goes without saying that Luzardo was not his normal self. He struck out a season-low two batters while giving up the second-most runs in any start this season. Luzardo, who was hit with a no-decision in this one, draws another tough matchup in his next start, which is scheduled for Wednesday on the road in Toronto.

Luzardo left down 2-1, but the Phillies came back to win 4-3 tonight. Luzardo has a 1.54 ERA over his last four starts, though he’s picked up just one win in the process. He’s looking at facing the White Sox in a home start next week. It seems like a fairly kind assignment for a left-hander with Munetaka Murakami on the IL.

San Diego appeared to have Luzardo on the ropes on several occasions, but he managed to wriggle out of multiple jams with traffic on the basepaths to record his third consecutive quality start since May 14. The 28-year-old southpaw recorded six punchouts and only issued a pair of walks. His signature moment in this one came in the opening frame when he escaped a bases-loaded quagmire by striking out Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill before getting former teammate Nick Castellanos to ground out. He’s in line for a tough assignment to close out a two-start week with a road matchup against the red-hot Dodgers on Sunday.

The runs came in the fourth after the Reds loaded the bases with no outs and then settled for a pair of sac flies. As it turned out, that was enough to drop Luzardo to 3-4 on the season. It’s the sixth time in 10 starts that Luzardo has allowed two runs or fewer. Unfortunately, he’s given up 24 earned runs in the other four. He’ll likely face the Padres on Monday.