The Philadelphia Phillies lay an egg on opening day
After boundless anticipation, the Philadelphia Phillies lost a heartbreaker to the Atlanta Braves thanks to some bizarre decisions from Gabe Kapler.
Buckle your seatbelts Philadelphia Phillies fans, this is going to be a long season.
After five and a third innings of dominant pitching from Aaron Nola, first-year skipper Gabe Kapler took out his opening day ace after only 68 pitches with a 5-0 lead, and boy did things get out of hand quickly.
After giving up a two-run homer to the very next batter, the Atlanta Braves slowly chipped away at the Phillies lead, and ultimately sealed their fate with a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to deal Kapler’s squad their first loss of the 2018 MLB season.
And honestly, the Phillies did it to themselves.
Kapler turned heads before the game even started by weird sciencing up a lineup that noticeably lacked both Odubel Herrera and recently extended Scott Kingery, but over the first five innings, it didn’t seem to have a negative effect on the team’s chances of winning.
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To their credit, the Phillies came out swinging, going up to a quick 1-0 thanks to an RBI by second-year sparkplug Rhys Hoskins, with four more runs coming at the top of the sixth, but after Nola exited the game, the team’s entire momentum screeched to an almost immediate halt.
With a bevy of different relievers attempting to close the floodgates, the Phillies struggled to keep the Braves off the scoreboard and were ultimately unable to match their opponents scoring output.
And in the eight innings, Kapler struck again and unceremoniously removed Hoskins, unquestionably the team’s best home run hitter, from the game for Harrara in a defensive double-switch. Revitalized, the Phillies gave up three more runs with Harrara manning the middle, leaving the game all tied up at five, with Hoskins now sitting on the bench.
After failing to score in the top of the ninth after recent addition Carlos Santana struck out, the Phillies surprisingly trotted out Héctor Neris to close out the game, and needless to say, it didn’t go well. With Pat Neshek, the teams lone All-Star from the 2017 season sitting on the bench, the Phillies walked first baseman Freddie Freeman, only to give up a three-run homer to a smoking hot Nick Markakis in route to their first loss of the season.
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While a Phillies loss is hardly a new thing to anyone who’s watched the team over the last half-decade, what really stinks about this loss was that it was self-inflicted. The Phillies didn’t lose to the Braves, Gabe Kapler lost to the Braves. From failing to start two of his best players, to some truly bizarre decisions throughout the game, to a plethora of mistakes throughout the game, if the Phillies are going to contend for a spot in the playoffs this season they are going to have to get things together fast.