They trotted onto the field via red carpet, ensconced in crisp pinstripes with a tint of gold. The crowd serenaded them as they lined up on the field. Yes, the 2009 Phillies arrived at Citizens Bank Park in style — they just didn’t bring the whole game with them.
The Phillies lost, 4-1, to the Braves, as Derek Lowe mastered the lineup with his dazzling slider. He went eight innings, giving up just two hits and a slew of groundouts. On the other side, Brett Myers didn’t match Lowe. The opening night starter allowed three home runs en route to a six-inning, four-run shellacking. The homers were bad pitches — a 2-0 changeup (his worst pitch), a turnpike fastball to a first-pitch swinger (Jeff Francoeur) and a softball to rookie Jordan Schafer. Myers struck out six.
A slight rally in the ninth ended with strikeouts by Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez. Eric Bruntlett — the hottest hitter since the spring started — doubled off Mike Gonzalez. Jayson Werth singled him home for the lone run.
The Phillies lost their last two season openers, so that’s nice consolation.
Tim MalcolmTim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.
