Philadelphia Phillies closer Hector Neris was been suspended three games and fined for throwing at Los Angeles Dodgers infielder David Freese after blowing a save on Tuesday night. Neris is appealing the suspension, so he will be available to pitch Wednesday.
That will likely be the same case for the series finale between the Phillies and Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday afternoon.
Neris has not fared well against the Dodgers in his career, which may have led to the frustration of throwing at Freese. In 12 career games against Los Angeles, Neris is 0-2 with an 8.49 ERA and 2.14 WHIP.
He most notably gave up three consecutive home runs in what ended up being a walk-off victory for the Dodgers in 2017. This past June, Neris allowed another walk-off when Will Smith took him deep when the Phillies visited Dodger Stadium in June.
The walk-off home run was also Smith’s first homer of his career.
Neris inherited a 6-5 lead as the Phillies appeared poised to earn their first win against the Dodgers in five games this season. However, he issued a leadoff walk, which was followed by an A.J. Pollock bloop single.
Matt Beaty then delivered a pinch-hit three-run home run to give the Dodgers a lead. The next pitch Neris threw after the home run was a fastball straight at Freese’s neck, which led to an immediate ejection.
Phillies manager Gabe Kapler was also ejected after arguing with the home-plate umpire. The benches did not clear, but Freese had some words for Neris before walking to first base.
Some of the frustration was erased when Philadelphia wound up getting to Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the ninth inning to earn a 9-8 walk-off victory of their own.
Neris’ ejection was the second of the series as fellow Phillies reliever Yacksel Rios suffered the same fate for throwing at Justin Turner. While it also came after allowing a home run, that pitch was a breaking ball so there didn’t seem to be an intent.
Turner even attempted to argue on Rios’ behalf, though to no avail. Kapler protested that ruling as well and did so while avoiding an ejection.
