Ranger Suárez scores a brilliant three-hit performance that helps the Phillies defeat the Marlins

MIAMI — Two more numbers must be crossed off the countdown to the Phillies’ first division title since 2011. But two numbers were even more significant Thursday night:

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Because the Phillies’ best chance of winning the World Series – the only goal that really matters after narrow losses in back-to-back Octobers – depends on the starting lineup, and Suárez has the ability to separate them from all other contenders.

So it was encouraging that Suárez made up for his occasionally patchy control and a dip in velocity by mixing five pitches like a blender and putting the last-place Marlins to sleep 5-2 in front of just 9,355 paying spectators in South Florida.

“He’s one of our horses,” said Bryson Stott, who dunked an RBI single into left field and hit a solo home run into upper right field. “He gets us a long way through the game, through the season. It’s definitely good to have him back.”

In addition to Suárez, who spent a month on the injured list, the Phillies are also back in form, winning their fifth straight game – and 10th in 12 games – and extending their lead in the NL East to eight games after the Braves lost at home to the Rockies. The magic number to win the division is 15, when every combination of Phillies wins or Braves losses totals 15.

For weeks, the Phillies have been slowly encouraging Suárez’s return from a back injury, and now they’re slowly getting him back into the game. He threw 82 pitches, a modest improvement from 72 and 78 in his previous games against the Royals and Braves. With at least three, maybe four games left, there’s still time to get him closer to 100 pitches before the end of the regular season.

But the Phillies don’t need Suárez to dominate in October like he did in the first half of the season. They need his reliability and his cool throws, like the curveball he used to throw out Jake Burger in the third inning with two runners on base.

Suárez’s sinker averaged 88.9 mph, two points below his season average. Manager Rob Thomson acknowledged the velocity was “not normal,” but claimed he was not concerned. Thomson said it was part of the process of getting in shape, especially considering Suárez didn’t go to the minors to improve.

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“I think you’re going to see – and I hate this terminology – a little bit of a dead arm coming out of this thing,” Thomson said. “He’s building to that level, and sometimes that’s tough. But he knows how to throw.”

It’s definitely worth watching. But maybe it really wasn’t a big deal. Suárez doesn’t usually rely on speed to strike out hitters anyway. And without his best fastball, he simply used his curveball and changeup to get the Marlins to strike out.

“You’re not always 100% fast,” Suárez said through a team interpreter. “That was the case for me today. I worked with it and it worked well. I tried my breaking balls today and they worked. We got the results we wanted, so why stop throwing them?”

Suárez used his sinker to make soft contact, mostly on the ground. And he was in position as usual, negating a leadoff walk in the fourth inning by getting Jonah Bride off first base and bouncing off the mound to catch Cristian Pace’s tapper in the fifth inning.

The Phillies limited Suárez to 90 pitches, according to Thomson, who didn’t want to send him out for the sixth inning if he couldn’t finish it. And after a four-run sixth-inning uprising extended the lead to 5-0, it made even less sense to hold on to Suárez.

Suárez returned on August 24 in Kansas City and pitched well for five innings. Last Friday at home against the Braves, he struck out the first five batters before allowing two consecutive home runs and being knocked out after four innings.

So consider this a strong answer.

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“He used more of his secondary pitches than usual, just because he didn’t have the velocity,” said Thomson, who noted that Suárez could throw 95 pitches in his next start. “He really pitched. I thought he pitched better than he did last time. So we’re making progress.”

Stott jump-started an offense that was otherwise inefficient (3-for-11 with runners in scoring position). He hit home a run in the first inning and then hit a solo home run in the sixth to get things going.

The Marlins allowed a run in the seventh inning through reliever Max Lazar and took advantage of a throwing error by backup third baseman Kody Clemens to score again in the eighth inning.

But it was Suárez who set the tone, even without his best performances.

And with Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola set to take the ball in the next two games, it was a helpful reminder of how important Suárez will be as the third starter in the postseason.

“He’s a ranger,” Stott said. “If he doesn’t have his sinker that day, it feels like he has seven other shots. He’s very smart up there. He knows what the guys might not be able to do, and he just throws what he wants to throw. Just the fact that he’s able to command every shot is great.”

Maybe even making a difference.

NL East table and the Phillies’ magic number

The magic number to win the division is 15, meaning any combination of Phillies wins or Braves losses adds up to 15.