TORONTO — Ranger Suárez pitched eight or more innings three times in 119 starts with the Phillies from 2018-25.
He’s already done it twice in his first year with the Red Sox.
The 30-year-old lefty tossed eight scoreless innings in Boston’s 5-0 victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Monday. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out 10.
Asked if it was the best start of his career, Suárez said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez, “Probably one of the best.”
Suárez also pitched eight scoreless innings April 17 against the Tigers at Fenway Park. In that game, he allowed two hits and one walk while striking out four.
Monday’s 10-strikeout performance was just the sixth time in his career he has had double-digit strikeouts. He had a career-high 12 strikeouts in six scoreless innings for the Phillies against the Mets on Sept. 9, 2025.
“He was in the zone with everything,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “He got some strikeouts with three ball counts on breaking balls. He got them to chase. He jumped ahead at times. When he fell behind, he got back in the count. He just commanded the game.”
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Suárez recorded 14 swings and misses: five with his curveball, four with his cutter, two with his changeup, two with his four-seam fastball and one with his sinker.
“When I’m able to command my four-seam and my sinker, I think that opens the door for my secondary pitches to get swings and misses,” he said.
Suárez kept the Blue Jays hitless until the sixth inning when Jesús Sánchez led off with a double down the left field line.
“I wasn’t thinking about a no-hitter,” Suárez said. “I wanted to get quick outs. That was my mentality — to get quick out so I could go deeper into the game. And also, the defense behind me today was great."
Sánchez didn’t make it beyond second base after his leadoff double in the sixth. The Red Sox lefty struck out both Davis Schneider and Tyler Heineman swinging, then got Myles Straw to fly out to right field to strand Sánchez at second base.
“Obviously after the double, I have to reset and change my mindset for the run not to score. I think that was the only runner that got to scoring position,” Suárez said. “So my mindset was like to not let him score.”
While Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease reached 99.4 mph with his fastball, Suárez dominated with finesse. His fastball averaged 91.2 mph and topped out at 92.7 mph.
“He started out at like 88, 89, and then it cranked up to like 92,” Tracy said. “But his ability to move the ball in and out, change speeds, elevate, go down below zone, get the ball on the plate, like, it’s really good.”
While Suárez dazzled all night, the offense capitalized with two outs. All five of Boston’s runs came with two outs.
“Those are backbreakers at times, especially if they are of the multiple-run variety,” Tracy said.
Marcelo Mayer delivered a two-out single in the fourth that made it 1-0 Boston. With two outs in the fifth, Roman Anthony stroked an RBI infield single and Wilyer Abreu added an RBI double to extend the lead to 3-0.
Caleb Durbin’s two-out RBI single in the sixth made it 4-0. Carlos Narváez’s two-out home run in the eighth made it 5-0.