Game 1: Phillies Lose 5-2 to the Marlins
The Philadelphia Phillies lost game one of the season to the Miami Marlins by a score of 5-2.
Should we be surprised? This is exactly what happened last year, so I guess it makes sense for it to roll over into 2020.
Aaron Nola pitched five strong innings, but in the sixth inning there was a wall hit. Jesús Augilar was down 0-2 in the count and Nola threw an off-speed pitching hanging over the lower half the plate which resulted in a two-run bomb. This gave the Marlins a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth.
The top of the lineup was awful. Andrew McCutchen, Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and JT Realmuto were a combined 1 for 14 on the night and the only hit was a dinky blooper infield hit by Hoskins.
Didi Gregorious deserves some praise for his offensive production. He hit an absolute moonshot to tie the game 1-1 in the fifth inning. Scott Kingery can get an honorable mention for crushing a ball over the left-field foul pole which was so close to being fair, the umpires had to review it. Sadly, it was ruled foul.
Zack Wheeler on the mound for game two Saturday afternoon.
In this shortened season, is it a must win?