Phillies' Suarez throws 4-hit shutout in victory over Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates could not figure out Ranger Suarez.

The left-hander pitched a four-hit shutout to lead the Phillies to a 3-0 win over the Pirates on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The Pirates did not get a runner past first base against Suarez (7-5) as he lowered his ERA to 1.45. He had seven strikeouts and no walks while pitching the first complete game of his four-year career.

In one stretch from the second through fifth innings, Suarez retired 12 batters in a row. He threw 97 pitches.

“The changeup was really good,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “The ability to execute it throughout the count, ability to execute it behind the count. He did a really nice job. And the pitches that he did leave over the middle of the plate, we didn’t capitalize on. He was really efficient, came right at us. We knew coming in he put the ball on the ground, and the changeup was really, really good.”

The Pirates (57-97) have dropped the first three games of the four-game series and five of their last six games overall. They need to go 6-2 in their final eight games to avoid the ninth 100-loss season in franchise history.

The Pirates have lost nine of their last 10 games in Philadelphia.

Taylor Davis had two of the Pirates’ hits, and Yoshi Tsutsugo and Bryan Reynolds had the others. Davis, a catcher, was making his Pirates debut.

“There’s a little deception there for sure,” Davis said of Suarez. “I thought he did a really good job of, for the most part, when the fastball was away it was away, and when it was in it was in. There wasn’t a ton of misses over the plate. He just really pitched well and executed a lot of pitches.”

The Phillies (81-74) ran their winning streak to five games and won for the ninth time in their last 11 games. They drew within one game of the first-place Atlanta Braves in the National League East.

Wil Crowe (4-8) took the loss as he allowed three runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings while walking four and striking out two. The right-hander was trying to win consecutive starts for just the second time this season.

“I didn’t feel my greatest,” Crowe said “I didn’t have my best fastball command. But I limited the damage.”

The Phillies used solo home runs from Matt Vierling and Bryce Harper to deep center field to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Vierling’s leadoff shot was the first of his career, and Harper’s blast with one out was his 34th of the season.

Both homers came on changeups.

“Sometimes it goes your way. Sometimes it doesn’t,” Crowe said. “The homer to Vierling was a changeup. That’s kind of his strength. But I left it up a little bit. The pitch to Harper, I looked at some numbers throughout his last 500 (at-bats). Changeups down and away, even in the zone down and away or down and away off, the hardest one he had hit was like 88 mph. Tip your cap there. He hits a good pitch.

“Other than those two, really, I get beat on almost six infield hits. A lot of soft contact. That’s just how it goes some days.”

In the fifth, Brad Miller hit a two-out RBI single to make it 3-0.

The Phillies had plenty of chances for more runs. They stranded eight runners, and the Pirates turned three double plays.

Vierling and J.T. Realmuto had two hits each for the Phillies.

Notes: The four-game series concludes at 1:05 p.m. Sunday with Max Kranick (1-3, 7.28) pitching for the Pirates. The rookie has lost his last three decisions and is winless in his past six starts. The Phillies have not announced a starter. … Infielder/outfielder Michael Chavis (strained right elbow) is expected to be activated from the injured list Tuesday when the Pirates open their season-ending homestand. … Reliever David Bednar could return before the end of the season after throwing a bullpen Friday. The Mars graduate has been sidelined since Sept. 8 with a right oblique strain … Davis became just the Pirates’ third catcher in 154 games this season. The Pirates hadn’t used two catchers in a season since 2012 when Rod Barajas and Michael McKenry split duties.