Gio Gonzalez flirted with a no-hitter against the Marlins - MLB

July 31 was a special day for Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez. It’s the birthday of pitcher Jose Fernandez, the Marlins’ All-Star who died last September in a boating accident. Gonzalez was a close friend of Fernandez. At Marlins Park on Monday, Gonzalez and Bryce Harper requested to see Fernandez’s baby daughter in Fernandez’s mom’s first visit to the ballpark since his death, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reported.

Gonzalez went out and pitched a gem against the Marlins, bringing a no-hitter into the ninth inning. It was broken up when Dee Gordon it a 1-1 curve ball into center field for a single. Gonzalez was lifted at that point, receiving a standing ovation from the Miami crowd. Sean Doolittle came in and wiped out Gordon when Giancarlo Stanton hit into a 5-4-3 double play. After Christian Yelich singled, the lefty got Marcell Ozuna to pop out to end the game for his seventh save.

Over eight innings, Gonzalez gave up just the one hit and three walks with five strikeouts on 106 pitches. He’s now 9-5 with a 2.66 ERA and a 132/58 K/BB ratio in 142 1/3 innings this season. With the win, the Nationals pad their least in the NL East to 14 games.

After the game, speaking to MASN’s Dan Kolko, Gonzalez said, “Tonight was more of an emotional night, kind of like a special night. I got to see the Fernandez family. And what a night.” When asked about Fernandez specifically, Gonzalez said he received a special ball signed with Fernandez’s initials before choking up with tears.

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PHILADELPHIA – Aaron Nola took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and struck out 12, Trea Turner homered twice among his four hits to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to their third straight win, 8-3 over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.

Nola (5-4) fanned 10 and had faced the minimum through six as he tried to pitch the Phillies’ first no-hitter since 2015. The ace right-hander ran into trouble in the seventh when two batters reached on a walk and a fielding error. Nola still had two outs when he hung an 0-2 breaking ball to Nick Maton and the former Phillie crushed one into right to make it a 5-3 game.

Maton’s bat-flip homer was the only hit allowed by Nola. He walked three over seven innings.

Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Vasquez each tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.

Nola walked Jake Marisnick with two outs in the third inning but the outfielder was out at first base on a caught stealing by catcher J.T. Realmuto. Nola walked Maton with one out in the fifth but the baserunner was erased after Eric Haase hit into an inning-ending double play.

Nola threw 68 of 108 pitches for strikes in front of 33,196 fans. Nola, who recorded two strikeouts on automatic strike three calls, has now pitched at least six innings in each of hit last 10 starts.

He improved to 83-66 in a career spent all with the Phillies since his debut in 2015. The right-handed ace is a free agent at the end of the season. Nola and the Phillies tabled contract talks in spring training, with no plans to resume until the offseason.

Nola’s no-no stalled, too.

There have been no no-hitters in the majors this season, the first since Major League Baseball introduced a pitch clock. There were a record nine in 2021 and four last year.

The Phillies returned home from a 4-6 road trip in search of some last season’s June success that squashed a miserable start and led them to the NL championship. So far, so good. The Phillies won the last two games in Washington and kept the wins coming at home. They scored one run in each of the first three innings on Turner’s RBI single, Nick Castellanos’ run-scoring double, and Turner’s solo shot in the third.

Bryce Harper added an RBI single in the fifth. Turner connected the same inning off Tigers starter Joey Wentz (1-6) for his seventh homer of the season and first multi-homer game with the Phillies.

Turner has slumped in the first season of an 11-year, $300 million deal. He hit just .143 on the road trip but now has three homers in his last two home games.

VETERAN MOVE

Tigers DH Miguel Cabrera, who has said he will retire at the end of the season, is the last active player who played at Veterans Stadium. The Phillies last played in their now-razed former stadium in 2003. He played six games at the Vet in 2003 with the Florida Marlins. The Phillies will honor Cabrera before Wednesday’s game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: LHP José Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) is set to make a rehab appearance in Double-A Reading. … CF Cristian Pache (right meniscus tear) is “swinging and missing quite a bit,” according to manager Rob Thomson, in his minor league rehab games.

UP NEXT

The Phillies send RHP Taijuan Walker (4-3, 5.65 ERA) to the mound. The Tigers did not name a starter.