Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Phillies Dominate Athletics on Opening Day as Slugfest Ensued
At long last, the Philadelphia Phillies resumed playing baseball as 2022 MLB Opening Day was played on Friday. The Phillies hosted the Oakland Athletics while also sporting their new look lineup and Aaron Nola taking the bump for the fifth consecutive year.
New leadoff hitter and slugger Kyle Schwarber, as if on cue, got the afternoon started with a leadoff home run. It was one of the most predictable events of the afternoon, so much so we had a tweet already drafted for the occasion.
Perhaps the most exciting inning of the game was the fourth. During the bottom half, Schwarber and Realmuto both got on base ahead of the reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper. In an unusual situation for Harper (with men on base), he hit an RBI double scoring Schwarber.
Hoskins then was able to come up to bat and hit a two-run single to increase their lead to 4-0.
Shortstop Didi Gregorius also tacked onto the hit count as he singled in Hoskins from second. It was an incredibly productive inning of baseball for this Phillies lineup as they lived up to exactly what they were built to do.
Of note, in the bottom of the sixth rookie Bryson Stott secured his first big league hit which was a single that advanced all of the runners and loaded the bases.
Nola was once again prolific, yet unproductive. He absolutely cruised through the first six innings, allowing just one run. It was in the seventh that everything broke down for the Opening Day starter.
After giving up a three-run home run, which cut the Phillies lead to 6-4, he was yanked from the game for Jeurys Familia. The new acquisition was able to secure two outs before giving way to Brad Hand.
Oakland put another on the board with Hand on the mound cutting the lead to 6-5, making it a much closer ball game than it felt just an inning prior. However, he was able to get out of the inning by striking out veteran Jed Lowrie.
Seranthony Domínguez made his first appearance of the 2022 season and tossed a clean inning with just seven pitches. His return could be a massive boost for this Phillies bullpen.
Philadelphia tacked on two more runs in the eighth on the backs of a Stott RBI-double and a Schwarber RBI-single. If anything, the offensive production was a sight for sore eyes, if not unexpected.
As we have said all offseason, this Phillies lineup has the firepower to outhit bad defense and poor pitching. It did that this afternoon.
Corey Knebel was brought in to close out the ninth and pitched a perfect inning.
The Phillies will take on the Athletics again on Saturday, the second of the three-game set. The game begins at 4:05 pm with Kyle Gibson set to take the mound for Philadelphia against former Phillie Cole Irvin for the A's.
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