Jesus Luzardo throws first career shutout as Phillies beat Braves 1-0; check details

Jesus Luzardo delivered the first shutout of his major league career on Monday, striking out 12 and allowing two hits as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves 1-0 at Citizens Bank Park.

Kyle Schwarber provided the only run with a 415-foot solo home run in the eighth inning. The victory allowed the Phillies to split a four-game series with the National League East leaders and cut Atlanta’s division advantage to four games with 18 contests remaining.

Luzardo, the National League pitcher of the month for August, improved to 14-5 with a 2.87 ERA. He needed 109 pitches, 78 of them strikes, and completed the game in 1 hour, 51 minutes. It was his 150th career start and the first time he had recorded an out in the ninth inning.

Complete game ends a scoreless duel

The left-hander worked quickly and stayed ahead in the count. Atlanta did not put a runner on base until Luzardo hit Austin Riley on the foot in the third. Matt Olson singled in the fourth for the Braves’ first hit. A second single later was erased by a double play.

Luzardo generated 23 swings and misses, including 12 on his sweeper. He mixed that pitch with a four-seam fastball and sinker against a right-handed-heavy lineup and did not issue a walk until the ninth. After eight innings and 92 pitches, he returned to a standing ovation.

Ha-Seong Kim flied out to open the ninth. Ronald Acuna Jr., who had been booed in each of his first three plate appearances after a Sunday homer and curtain call, drew a walk. Luzardo then struck out Drake Baldwin looking and induced a fly ball to left from Ozzie Albies to close the game.

Jesus Luzardo contract

Philadelphia Phillies signed Luzardo to a five-year, $135 million contract in March rather than allow him to reach free agency. The outing reinforced that decision. He has pitched like a potential postseason Game 1 starter for much of the second half.

Kyle Schwarber supplies the only run

Atlanta Braves starter Grant Holmes nearly matched the performance. He allowed three hits over six scoreless innings, struck out six and retired the side in the third. It was the sixth time this season Holmes had thrown six shutout innings. Reliever Didier Fuentes kept the game scoreless through the seventh.

The Phillies wasted early opportunities. They loaded the bases with two outs in the first before Bryson Stott lined out to center. Trea Turner doubled in the sixth and was left stranded. Holmes and Fuentes held Philadelphia to four hits until the eighth.

With two outs in that inning, Schwarber drove a fastball from Fuentes into the second deck in right-center field. The homer was his major league-leading 43rd of the season and his third in three games against Atlanta. Fuentes fell to 5-2.

Division race remains tight

The result left the Phillies at 81-63 and the Braves at 85-59. Philadelphia’s bullpen had been an issue in the two losses in the series. Luzardo removed that variable by finishing the game himself.

The Phillies remain four games back. The Braves still hold first place. Both teams now turn to the final stretch with little margin left.