Nationals touch Gomez for a walk-off win
The struggling former closer has allowed runs in four of his five outings
WASHINGTON - When this week began, Jeanmar Gomez was still the Phillies closer. He was humbled Sunday, demoted Monday, but thrust Friday into a difficult situation. He pushed a 3-2 Phillies loss to the Nationals into extra innings with a scoreless ninth. But, in the 10th, Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, and Ryan Zimmerman awaited him.
"That's his job now," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said, "to give us multiple innings."
Gomez threw five pitches in the 10th. The game ended with a Harper belly flop across home plate. He stopped at Gomez's feet and celebrated. The deposed closer lost it when Murphy slashed a game-winning double to left.
They were beaten with their new closer, Joaquin Benoit, unused in the bullpen. Edubray Ramos, a trusted late-inning reliever, blew a one-run lead. Aaron Nola impressed in five innings but could not pitch beyond that.
The Phillies have played 10 games. Only one of their starting pitchers, Jerad Eickhoff, has thrown a pitch in the seventh inning of a game. It has exposed a bullpen that was perceived as a strength entering the season.
"Pitch count is where it hurts," catcher Cameron Rupp said. "If you look at certain guys, they don't really get themselves into many three-ball counts. It's more or less guys fouling off tough pitches. . . . It all evens out at some point. We're 10 games in. We'll get it figured out."
The shortened outings for his starters and frequent deficits have uncovered the soft underbelly of the Phillies' bullpen. Gomez has pitched five times in 2017. He has permitted runs in four of those games. His ERA is a ghastly 11.81. The Venezuelan righthander declined to comment after Friday's loss. The Phillies hope for Gomez to fill a middle relief role, but his confidence is shaken.
Mackanin could have opted for lefty Joely Rodriguez, also the owner of an 11.81 ERA, to face Murphy, a tough hitter against any pitcher. The manager wanted to preserve Benoit for a potential save opportunity. The other option was Luis Garcia, recalled two days earlier from the minors.
"It's all about handling pitching," Mackanin said. "I thought about [Hector] Neris for a second inning, but I don't want to get into that rut we were in last year, where every close game we're using up our guys and you get into August and September and they run out of gas."
That applied to Nola as well. He had fired 90 pitches in five innings, but the Phillies will be cautious with Nola. He missed two months last season with an elbow injury.
"I could have sent him back out," Mackanin said. "But I want to protect him as much as I can because I know he's good."
"My body felt good," Nola said.
Mackanin had the chance Friday, even with Nola's quick exit, to deploy his best relievers with a lead. Pat Neshek pitched around a walk in the sixth. He ceded to Ramos, appearing for the first time since his fateful fastball that sailed over Asdrubal Cabrera's head and ignited the Mets, and he could not hold it.
Ramos walked pinch-hitter Chris Heisey on six pitches. Heisey advanced to second when Rupp could not catch a Ramos fastball. Then, Anthony Rendon cracked a first-pitch Ramos fastball that struck the out-of-town scoreboard on the right-field wall. It tied the game.
Nola, despite lasting just five innings, generated more optimism. He has navigated a talented Nationals lineup twice in the last week. Of the 33 outs he's recorded this season, 26 of them have come on either a strikeout or a groundout. That is a portrait of success for a pitcher like Nola.
The 23-year-old righthander, at times, looked dominant. He threw Harper a 95-mph fastball on the outer edge of home plate for a called strike three to end the first inning. Harper crouched in the batter's box and removed his helmet in disgust.
But Nola needed 22 pitches in each the second and third inning to retire the Nationals.
"I got behind in the count a little bit," Nola said. "That resulted in throwing a few more pitches than I wanted to and needed to."
He was more economical in the fourth and fifth innings. Nola threw two-thirds of his pitches for strikes. That will please the Phillies, who have harbored doubt about Nola's right elbow, although it did not translate Friday to the standings.
@MattGelb