Jesús Luzardo strikes out 11 in his debut for the Philadelphia Phillies

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jesús Luzardo got a handshake from Bryce Harper in the clubhouse and fist bumps or back slaps from other teammates on Saturday after striking out 11 batters in his Philadelphia Phillies debut — and his first regular-season appearance in 9 1/2 months.

About a week ago he watched his previous start, a loss for his former team, the Miami Marlins, against, coincidentally, the Washington Nationals, Saturday's opponent.

“It just wasn’t me. At all,” the left-hander said about that June 16 outing after allowing two runs in five innings to earn the win for Philadelphia in an 11-6 victory at Nationals Park this time. “So I'm glad to get back to feeling like myself.”

Less than a week after that June game, Luzardo went on the injured list with a back problem that was expected to sideline him for up to six weeks. Instead, he missed the rest of the 2024 season and never returned to the Marlins.

He was traded to the Phillies for minor leaguers in December. And his new club was certainly pleased to see him on the mound Saturday.

“He’s awesome. Fits right in. He’s electric,” said Bryson Stott, who joined Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh in homering for the visitors. “Obviously we saw him a lot (with Miami). It’s even more electric when he’s striking out 11 of a different team and not us.”

The only time a pitcher recorded more strikeouts in his first game with Philadelphia came in 1997, when Garrett Stephenson had 12 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Luzardo gave up five hits and two runs — both on Keibert Ruiz's second-inning homer.

“The only bad pitch he made, probably,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

One key for Luzardo was his sweeper, which he threw more than 20 times and combined with his slider to generate most of his strikeouts.

That was more than he expected to go to the sweeper.

“It kind of fits in the game plan, but we go based off how it’s feeling,” said Luzardo, who was born in Peru, went to high school in Florida and originally was drafted by the Nationals in 2016. “Today, it felt really good, so we leaned on it a little bit more.”

That, along with a fastball that consistently was around 97 mph, kept the Nationals batters off-kilter.

The sweeper, Luzardo explained, is “just another way of getting guys out. Different swing types. Different profiles for a hitter. It just fits in the game plan a little bit in different ways than I would use my normal slider. Just finding different avenues of getting guys out.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A long-dormant 1985 state law in Nevada — requiring parents or guardians to be notified before a minor undergoes an abortion — can be enforced, a federal judge ruled Monday.

U.S. District Court Judge Anne Traum in Nevada said in a written decision that the 40-year-old law can take effect on April 30, but the judge also left open the possibility for abortion rights advocates to seek a court order blocking its reinstatement while they challenge the law's constitutionality.

The requirement has never before been enforced in Nevada because of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found it was unconstitutional based on Roe v. Wade. But after the Supreme Court reversed the landmark decision in 2022, stripping away constitutional protections for abortion, a group of district attorneys mostly in rural Nevada sued to restore the 1985 law.

Planned Parenthood argued that the 1985 law, despite the reversal of Roe, remains “unconstitutionally vague” and that it violates minors’ rights to due process and equal protection.

But Traum, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said in her decision that “whether the statute is unconstitutional for another reason has not been fully litigated nor is that question before the Court in this motion.”

Emailed messages seeking comment Tuesday were left with attorneys for Planned Parenthood.

James Bopp Jr., a lawyer representing some of the district attorneys, told The Associated Press that the law would protect “vulnerable, immature girls from making a decision that has life-altering consequences for themselves.”

Abortions in Nevada are legal until 24 weeks, with exceptions to save a mother’s life or to protect her health. In November, a ballot question to enshrine Nevada’s abortion rights in the state constitution received its first nod of approval from voters, who must also approve the measure in 2026 in order to amend the constitution.

Parental involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion is required in 36 states, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues. Some states require only parental notification, as is the case with Nevada's law, while other states also require consent.

Nevada's law also allows a minor to get a court order authorizing an abortion without first notifying parents or guardians.

FILE - People rally in support of abortion rights, May 21, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)