The Philadelphia Phillies opened the season today with an awe-inspiring bottom of the ninth, come-from-behind 5-4 victory, after a less than inspiring first eight innings of the season against their old nemesis, the Houston Astros.
To make matters worse, the Phillies got shut down for most of the day, which was lost to one of their own: former Phillies pitcher Brett Myers.
Add to that the fact that former Phillie Michael Bourn drove in two runs and scored another, and it was looking like a down day for the old hometown team—until the Phillies reminded us all that this is still a pretty awesome team.
And who was that driving in the tying run? Mr. Double Play himself: Wilson Valdez.
Not that this all means anything, because it is only opening day, and, as we have all learned, anything can happen during the course of a baseball season (just ask Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes).
Nevertheless, after the special sting that comes from debuting your once-in-a-lifetime rotation and getting shut down by a guy you got rid of to make way for that rotation, it was certainly a nice way to end the first game of the year. Though, know this:
If the Phillies are going to play like this all season, we will all be dead by August!
Putting the exciting victory aside for a moment, something interesting and incredibly novel happened during today’s game, back when the Phillies looked like the 1962 Mets.
On his way to shutting down the Phils for most of the day, Brett Myers pitched 7.0 innings, allowing three hits, three walks, and one earned run. But Myers did not strike out a single batter.
And so here is today’s Philadelphia Phillies Daily Fun Fact:
In all of 2010, only 10 pitchers managed to pitch seven or more innings without striking out a single batter.
Of those ten pitchers, only one managed to pitch seven or more innings without striking out a single batter and while allowing only a single run.
It was Johnny Cueto, of the Cincinnati Reds, on June 28, 2010.
And it happened against the Phillies.
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