Blue skies, green grass, and a sea of red--all on a day of sparkling sunshine. I had to watch the pregame and first inning on TV just to bring it all back, though today's cool, wet, and grey weather is just as typical of home openers in memory. Hey, I'll take either one.
Cole Hamels is still finding his way, as, quite frankly, all starters not named Roy seem to be doing. And even Halladay does not look quite as sharp as expected; on the other hand, his results are sensational. What people forget about the Nats is that they can hit. See: Josh Willingham and Cristian Guzman. (Ryan Zimmerman was out with a hammy yesterday.) I figured that, coming off a series win in NY, the Nats would be fired up. And they were, taking a 4-0 lead in the 4th. But the Phillies came back, getting two in the bottom of the 4th, then five more in the 5th. Hamels didn't quite make it through the 6th, but the bullpen came in and did a shutdown job. The bullpen average so far? 1.33 ERA.
Placido Polanco again sparked the offense. Ryan Howard had an RBI single to the opposite field and Chase Utley a two-run homer to cap off the Phillies' offense.
The bad news in all this is that Jimmy Rollins came down with a calf strain minutes before the game and may very well be headed to the DL. Juan Castro took his place. I keep hearing about this guy's soft hands but keep seeing him commit errors, as he did again yesterday. He did, however, have a crucial double in the comeback. Jayson Werth disappeared in the 5th, leaving the game with a hip injury. Yikes.
