PHILADELPHIA — It had happened before, a Phillies pitcher giving up 12 or more earned runs in an outing. But when it happened to Jesús Luzardo in the Phillies’ eventual 17-7 loss to the Brewers on Saturday, it was the first time since 1947.

Luzardo became the 10th Phillies pitcher to have a ledger including at least 12 earned runs in his disaster outing at Citizens Bank Park. He became the seventh starting pitcher in Phillies history to allow 12 or more earned runs in a start. The left-hander was the first starter to do so in less than eight innings of work. Nothing was wrong with him physically. It was just one of those days.

“I think today was probably the best I felt in the last month-and-a-half, which might come as a surprise,” Luzardo said. “My body felt great. My arm felt great.”

“His first pitch strikes were really good,” manager Rob Thomson said. “When he didn’t execute, they hit the ball hard. When he did execute, the ball seemed to find a hole.”

Luzardo was roughed up in the first inning, allowing four runs on three hits. It marked the first time this year he’s allowed more than three earned runs in a single start, and it happened quickly as Rhys Hoskins’ three-run home run in the inning gave the Brewers an early 4-0 lead. It was the second straight start for Luzardo allowing multiple runs in the first inning.

“Again, starting off early, putting us down in a hole,” Luzardo said. “I think that’s frustrating, back-to-back starts.”

The Phillies starter settled down after Hoskins’ first-inning homer. Eight pitches later, he got out of the first after a six-pitch strikeout and back-to-back one-pitch groundouts. He escaped the second without allowing a run thanks to Max Kepler throwing Jackson Chourio out at home plate on a William Contreras single. Luzardo induced an inning-ending double play to get out of the third.

The wheels eventually fell off in the fourth. The Brewers scored eight runs on seven hits in the inning. Luzardo lasted just 3 1/3 innings.

“It kind of unraveled in the fourth,” Luzardo said. “Just not being able to get back on track and give length to the team kind of put the bullpen in a bad position. Obviously, it put us down in a bad hole. It’s not what you want as a starter.”

The scoring against Luzardo in the fourth inning went double, single, walk, walk, single, single before an out was recorded. The double came on a fly ball Nick Castellanos charged at as it approached the grass in shallow right-center field. The right fielder got leather on the ball as he went into a slide. He didn’t complete the catch.

“(Brandon) Marsh needs to call Casty off there,” Thomson said about his center fielder, later adding, “Marsh has to keep going, call the ball, call Casty off because he’s got priority in the outfield.”

Things snowballed soon thereafter.

Luzardo was charged with a throwing error a few plays later. A balk was then called a few pitches later by third-base umpire Derek Thomas. Luzardo was confused and upset. Thomson eventually came out for an explanation. He was ejected by second-base umpire and crew chief Dan Iassogna after a lengthy conversation.

“The third base umpire called (the balk),” Thomson said. “His explanation to me was that, at the top of (Luzardo’s) leg lift, he stopped. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that.”

“That was my frustration,” Luzardo said regarding the balk. “I’ve done this my whole career, since 2019. I’ve never been called a balk on it.”

Luzardo said he got a few different explanations on the field. It angered him. He, like Thomson, was told he stopped at the top of his delivery.

“I think that the frustration kind of caused me to unravel a little bit more as opposed to: kind of just step back and cool myself a little bit and then get back to it,” Luzardo said.

Hoskins stepped up to the dish with one out in the fourth and sent his second three-run home run of the afternoon into the stands, making it 11-0 Milwaukee.

Luzardo faced one more batter after Hoskins’ fourth-inning homer. He allowed a double to Daz Cameron before being replaced by Joe Ross, who surrendered an RBI single to Sal Frelick, closing the book on Luzardo’s day.

The 12 hits and 12 earned runs for Luzardo were career highs; the 3 1/3 innings he pitched tied the fifth-shortest start of his career. His ERA on the year went from 2.15 to 3.58 on Saturday. The lefty will just try to move past it.

“That’s what they pay us for, being able to just flush outings like that,” Luzardo said. “Obviously, it’s frustrating. An outing like today — I don’t know the numbers, but I can probably tell you that’s my career worst. It’s definitely frustrating for me. At the end of the day … tomorrow’s a new day. So the sun comes up tomorrow, we come here and try to win a ballgame.”