The Phillies scratched Jesus Luzardo from Saturday’s Phillies Vs Braves game because of shoulder soreness, pulling the scheduled starter out of a matchup that had already taken on extra weight after Friday night’s 11-inning thriller.
The change landed just before the 7:15 p.m. ET start on Saturday, September 12, and it left Philadelphia to rework its pitching plan for a divisional game in the NL East. Luzardo had been lined up to start, but the shoulder issue was enough to keep him from taking the ball.
That mattered because the Phillies had already leaned hard on their staff the night before, using five relievers after Nola worked into the seventh inning. With the bullpen still carrying the residue of that game, losing Luzardo took away the one thing teams want most in that spot: a clean start and innings they do not have to manufacture.
The timing also sharpened the contrast with what Luzardo had just done against the Braves. He had dominated them last week, which made the scratch feel even sharper for a rematch that was supposed to feature the same arm on the same schedule. Instead, the Phillies had to absorb the loss of a starter who was expected to set the tone and hope the rest of the night did not turn into another long test for the relief corps.
Atlanta had its own form line to lean on, with Tyler Mahle set to pitch after making six starts for the Braves and going 6.0 innings in five of them. He had allowed two runs only once in those outings, which gave the Braves a stable answer while Philadelphia searched for one.
That was the immediate reality of the game: one side had its starter, and the other had a scratch. The Phillies had to cover innings after already spending five relievers on Friday, and the next question was whether Luzardo could recover in time to take his next turn. For a team in a race that is this tight, a sore shoulder is never just a one-day problem.
