PHILADELPHIA _ Bryce Harper, before he even reached the batter's box on Thursday afternoon, dropped his bat into the dirt and unhooked his shin guard. The crowd hissed as he jogged to first base in the seventh inning on Opening Day. Harper, who had a hitless Phillies debut in an emphatic 10-4 win over the Braves, was being intentionally walked.
The Braves, in a somewhat perplexing decision, opted to avoid Harper and load the bases without an out for Rhys Hoskins, who ended the sequence with a finale the Phillies hope to see all season. Hoskins crushed the second pitch of the at-bat to left field, pointed to the home dugout as his first-career grand-slam soared, and sent Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy.
Opening Day may have been Harper's day, but it was Harper's teammates who did the pushing. All eight batters in the starting lineup reached base. Hoskins' grand slam was preceded by a first-inning leadoff homer by Andrew McCutchen and a three-run homer in the sixth from Maikel Franco. Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez drove in runs. Aaron Nola overcame a career-high five walks to strikeout eight batters in six innings. The bullpen _ despite a shaky outing from Hector Neris _ held the lead.
It was the start of a 162-game journey that the Phillies hope ends with them finally returning to October baseball. For that to happen, they will have to need more than just Harper. And for one game, they proved to have so much more.
Gabe Kapler said before the game that it was a "day to celebrate" the team's new roster. They have a deep lineup started by five hitters who finished last season with an OPS of .755 or better and is finished by Franco, the No. 8 hitter after batting clean-up just two years ago.
And it is a roster that has protection for the team's $330 million superstar. It will be hard for team's to defend walking Harper, when they know who is waiting after him. Hoskins wasted little time offering a reminder.
When Hoskins circled the bases, Harper was waiting for him at home. It was a scene quite similar to Harper's first spring-training game, when he reached on a walk and then watched Hoskins drive him in with a homer. Harper, that day, told Hoskins to "get used to it." Hoskins entered the dugout on Thursday as the crowd continued to cheer, forcing him to climb the dugout steps and doff his helmet for the season's first curtain-call. It was a scene the Phillies would like to get used to.
