Just 179 days after the Braves played their final regular-season game in Philadelphia, they returned to the City of Brotherly Love to begin anew.
Plenty has changed since that finale: The Braves gained their invaluable postseason experience. They decided to bank on internal growth – along with the Josh Donaldson supplement – to repeat as National League East champs.
The Phillies, whose division hopes were dashed during a horrific 8-20 September, took an opposite approach: Add to the core, and construct a potential powerhouse, through free agency and bold trades. Enter Jean Segura, Andrew McCutchen, J.T. Realmuto and the $330 million man, Bryce Harper.
Score one for “stupid money.”
The Braves lost their season opener 10-4 on Thursday in Philadelphia. The Phillies posted seven of those runs against the Braves’ much-maligned bullpen. It was a game within reach until disastrous sixth and seventh frames.
“The only thing that today means is we can’t go 162-0,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, whose Braves were never below .500 in the 2018 campaign. “It’s just one game. It’s no big deal. Pretty sure the Boston Red Sox lost their opening-day game last year, and they turned out all right.”
Phillies ace Aaron Nola wasn’t even his sharpest; it didn’t matter. Despite five walks, Nola struck out eight and held the Braves to a run over six innings. Julio Teheran matched, and perhaps outdid him until an unraveling fourth.
Locked in 1-1 duel, Dansby Swanson attempted one of his patented outstanding defensive efforts when Segura hit one his way. The play – a difficult maneuver in which Freeman couldn’t scoop the throw – allowed Segura to take second. He swiped third on a wild pitch.
But Teheran almost worked his way out of it. He struck out Harper, who had a quiet day, and Rhys Hoskins. He pitched around Realmuto, rather than the same aggressive methods he used with the aforementioned sluggers, which resulted in a walk.
Odubel Herrera made him pay with a single up the middle. Cesar Hernandez scooted a ball down the third-base line to drive home the Phillies’ third run.
“It may be a different story (if that play is made),” manager Brian Snitker said. “And I thought (Teheran) was going to pitch his way out of it. He got two strikeouts and gave up the ground-ball hit. He was in a tough spot there.”
Just like that, a gutsy Teheran performance became a losing effort. The righty was foiled by an elaborately tough play that even his excellent shortstop and first baseman couldn’t make (it was ruled a hit).
“If we had played a clean inning that one inning, it might’ve been a different ballgame,” Freeman said.
In all, Teheran allowed three runs on four hits, striking out seven and walking two. The line looks pedestrian. He pitched better than the numbers, but one play made the difference.
He rebounded nicely after McCutchen’s leadoff homer. He attacked hitters and the off-speed was crisp. The Braves would be happy with that kind of performance from Teheran on a regular basis. What followed him is the bigger worry.
The bullpen did little to mitigate concerns. Shane Carle relieved Teheran in the sixth, when he walked two and Maikel Franco launched a three-run homer into the left-field seats that opened the floodgates.
Luke Jackson was called upon in the seventh. He walked McCutchen and made a throwing error on Segura’s single that put both men in scoring position. Harper was intentionally walked.
Hoskins wouldn’t let the Braves escape. He belted a grand slam, ending any hope of late-inning magic that propelled the Braves to a win over the Phillies in last year’s opener.
“They’ve got a great offense,” Freeman said. “They made a lot of moves to make that offense powerful.”
The Braves are missing injured A.J. Minter and Darren O’Day, thus further complicating an already shaky bullpen situation. Opening day’s results won’t comfort the faithful any more than the Spring of Ailments did.
Walks, which plagued the team last season, haunted it again. Five walked hitters (one intentional) scored. As good as the offense projects to be, they’ll need a couple of pitchers to step up and fill the bullpen voids.
“We just couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Snitker said. “It’s situations where that part of the bullpen is going to have to come in and give us a crack at it. We couldn’t do it today.”
The Braves are off Friday before resuming the series this weekend. They’ll send out rookies Bryse Wilson and Kyle Wright to try slowing the Phillies’ revamped lineup.
Opening-day instances are usually magnified, but baseball season is a six-month trek. An unfortunate first game didn’t stir any pessimism in the clubhouse. In less than 48 hours, the Braves can even their mark.
