Philadelphia Phillies at Cincinnati Reds

Jesús Luzardo didn’t pitch with a massive chip on his shoulder on Thursday night, like Zack Wheeler did on Tuesday night. But Luzardo showed everybody why he was named to the NL All-Star team on Tuesday as a replacement. Luzardo allowed two hits, two walks and struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park to win the three-game series. Luzardo improved to 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA. “Lately, thankfully, my stuff’s been feeling pretty good and I’ve been coming out with a good mentality, trying to get ahead and stay on the attack the whole time,” Luzardo said. Luzardo is fun to watch when he is on the attack. He was fired up after getting Noelvi Marte to fly out to right field to end the second inning. Luzardo started pointing into the Reds’ dugout and even started to walk in that direction when home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook walked up to him. Somebody was chirping at Luzardo from the Reds’ dugout. “Yeah, just a little bit,” Luzardo said, smiling. “Just a little heated competition. I think it helps me at times finding a little bit of an edge, so I don't think it's a bad thing.” Anybody in particular say something? “It was in English,” Luzardo said, declining to reveal the source of his ire. “That’s about it.” But Luzardo was calm and collected when he returned to work in the third inning. “Like I said, a heated competition,” he said. “I think everyone wants to compete.”