Nick Piccone
The Phillies opened a series with the Marlins on Monday night, with Aaron Nola making his return to the bump after missing his last start before the All-Star break. Nola had been struggling, so it wasn’t exactly a bad move to give him some extra rest.
Nola was on point Monday night. It took only 68 pitches to get him through six innings, but he left the game after six due to being hit by a line drive on the right shoulder during that inning. It was precautionary, for sure, but that left the door open for the bullpen to blow it.
The normally solid bullpen did just that. With a 2-0 lead in the 9th, Jeanmar Gómez blew his third save in 28 tries, and at least one fan thought that had to do with catcher Cameron Rupp. Before the Marlins tied the game, Rupp visited the mound a couple times to talk to Gómez. It didn’t seem like the two were on the same page. One fan tweeted at Rupp, and Rupp responded shortly after the game ended.
I’m with Rupp. It’s easy to sit in the stands or at home and say Rupp and Gomez killed the momentum. But if there’s any doubt at all between a pitcher and catcher, that needs to be taken care of before a pitch. Especially one to Giancarlo Stanton.
You do you, Cameron.