After eight innings of struggling to muster consistent at-bats against a variety of Texas Rangers pitchers, they woke up in the ninth because the final three outs are always the hardest ones to get.
With a three-nothing Rangers lead heading into the ninth, the Phillies had Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Alec Bohm due up against left-hander Robert Garcia. Things looked even bleaker when Schwarber struck out looking and it didn’t feel better when Harper grounded a changeup to third baseman Josh Jung
for out number two.
But there are 27 outs in baseball, not 26 and sometimes all a baseball team needs is some luck to start a rally. Bohm caught a changeup off the end of his bat that flared right in front of Nimmo for a two out single.
With Garcia still in the game, Rob Thomson called for Edmundo Sosa to hit for Bryson Stott to try and start a rally. Garcia missed his first three pitches outside of the strike zone but located a fastball to make it three and one. Sosa then geared up to swing no matter what but got a slider instead of the fastball he was hoping for. After fouling off two more sliders, he spat on an uncompetitive changeup to work a walk.
Chris Martin rushed in from the bullpen to face Adolis Garcia, who had the chance to make his mark against the team that non-tendered him in November.
The hardest out to get in baseball is the last one. Martin didn’t throw a great first pitch cutter over the middle of the plate but Garcia hit a mile-high pop-up. The game should be over but Jake Burger struggled to kind it for the second time of the day, neither of them even hitting his first base mitt.
With the count one and two, Garcia broke his bat on a hanging changeup but it was perfectly placed down the left field line for a one-run double that put two more runners in scoring position. Brandon Marsh slapped a two-strike changeup right past second baseman Josh Smith to force the game to extras.
Jhoan Duran came in for the tenth to try and keep the game tied with the ghost runner on second base. He got unlucky when Wyatt Langford hit a bloop shot right in front of Garcia for a knock but he spiked a curveball that went from the dirt to JT Realmuto’s face and past him for Brandon Nimmo to score.
With two outs, Andrew McCutchen, normally a short side platoon partner at this stage of his career, pulled a fastball right past a diving Trea Turner that make the game 5-3.
The Phillies once again had to claw back against a shaky bullpen. Otto Kemp hit for Justin Crawford with the left-hander Tyler Alexander on the mound, he took a pitch to his legs and walked down to first. It just wasn’t meant to be, however, Turner hit a pop-up, Schwarber went down looking right after missing a challenge, and Alec Bohm hit a pop up after Bryce Harper singled to right.
The day started well for the Phillies when Jacob deGrom was scratched because of neck stiffness. The news got even better when it became official that Garrett Stubbs cleared waivers and is going to AAA with the Iron Pigs.
Aaron Nola got the start in the second game of the season to split left-handers Cristopher Sánchez and Jesus Luzardo in the rotation. After recording the first two outs of the game, Corey Seager got the fastball he likes to sit first pitch and crushed it.
The Texas Rangers asked Jacob Latz to make an emergency start, likely not super stretched out, and to spend most of the game trying to mix and match the bullpen. The fastball sat roughly 92 mph today but he made it work because of how his slider worked against the Phillies’ left-handed hitters.
Kyle Schwarber went down swinging on one in the first and Brandon Marsh was just browsing in the second. Phillies hitters struggled to pick up his arsenal through four innings and Skip Schumaker pulled Latz right when his stuff and command started to diminish.
Aaron Nola’s command looked shaky at times but he was able to pitch around two walks in the second. The third inning is where troubled turned into results for the Rangers offense. Brandon Nimmo singled to open the inning then Jake Burger pulled a curveball barely down the left field line for a homer that might’ve put a dent in the foul pole.
It could’ve been worse for Nola. Wyatt Langford crushed a fastball right before that homer that is almost always an extra base hit. Justin Crawford read the 107 mph flyball like a book and timed his jump perfectly to haul in a fantastic grab.
Crawford has made a good first impression with the Phillies, picking up two hits on opening day, working a walk, and making that grab today.
Aaron Nola finished the day with five innings, striking out seven, and allowing three runs on two homers. There were some positives, he sat 90-93 for most of the day, which seems solid for him given the weather. He generated five whiffs with both his four-seam fastball and curveball. Nola will always struggle with the home run ball but there was some good in his outing.
There are 160 games to go, at least 1440 innings to play. There is a lot of baseball to play and hopefully most it isn’t as stressful as today.
