Two Mistakes Spoil Return of Philadelphia Phillies Star Catcher

The Philadelphia Phillies lost a tough one on Friday that spoiled the comeback of their star catcher.

Sep 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Coming off a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Philadelphia Phillies got to enjoy a nice off day on Thursday before they had to gear up for an important series against their division rival New York Mets who have been one of the best teams in the league during the second half of the year.

If the Phillies take care of business in this three-game weekend set, they would virtually wrap up the NL East based on the Mets now being the second-place team and their magic number to clinch sitting in the single digits.

Philadelphia seems to have righted some of their wrongs on offense over the past couple weeks despite having multiple players on the shelf, so when it was revealed their star catcher J.T. Realmuto was back in the lineup for Game 1 against New York, the vibes were positive.

With the player nicknamed "The Best Catcher in Baseball" behind the dish, Aaron Nola was cruising on the mound, putting together a no-hitter through four innings with six strikeouts that included fanning the side in the third.

Unfortunately, things went off the rails for him in the fifth that spoiled Realmuto's comeback.

Nola's no-hit bid was broken up by the first batter of the inning, and after giving up another hit to the next Met in the order, the Phillies faced a 3-0 deficit when Francisco Alvarez blasted a three-run shot 378 feet that smashed off the left field foul pole.

He rebounded to strike out Francisco Lindor, but after giving up two straight hits following that at-bat, the right-hander was facing the same situation he was just staring down.

And just like before, he gave up a 3-run bomb.

Two mistakes, two homers, and a 6-0 deficit.

Following that blast, Nola's night was over as manager Rob Thomson turned to his bullpen for the rest of the way as Philadelphia's offense now faced the tall task of getting back into the game.

Things went from bad to worse for the Phillies as they ultimately trailed 11-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning before Brandon Marsh broke up the shutout with a three-run homer of his own.

That certainly wasn't the way Philadelphia had envisioned this series beginning, especially with their star catcher back in the mix.