Nola strong, but Phillies fall in home opener

Tim Kelly

April 11 2016

By: Tim Kelly, managing editor

Final: Padres 4, Phillies 3 ❖ Attendance: 45,229

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies opened their 2016 home slate of games with perhaps their most impressive pre-game in some time. The club honored the late Ed Snider with a moment of silence, while also giving wounded police officer Jesse Hartnett a chance to throw out the first pitch and successfully propose to his girlfriend.

The game itself didn't go the Phillies way, as the club lost their 10th home opener in the 13th season at Citizens Bank Park in a close game with the San Diego Padres.

WP: Kevin Quackenbush (1-0) ❖ LP: Aaron Nola (0-1) ❖ SV: Fernando Rodney (1)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
SD	0	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	6	0
PHI	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	3	8	0

The Padres were able to take a 3-0 lead between the third and fourth innings, but the Phillies slowly chipped away at that lead.

In the bottom half of the fourth inning, Odubel Herrera drove in a run for the second consecutive day, taking a ball into left-field to plate Cesar Hernandez.

Peter Bourjos got his first RBI in a Phillies uniform in the bottom of the fifth, as he doubled down the left-field line to bring home Cameron Rupp.

The Phillies tied the game in the sixth when Darin Ruf pinch-hit for Ryan Howard with the bases loaded. Ruf hit a lazy fly ball to left-center-field that Padres shortstop Alexei Ramirez lost in the sun and allowed to drop. The play would allow Hernandez to again score, but rather than advancing all the runners, the infield fly rule was controversially called and Odubel Herrera was thrown out at third base. Rupp then followed with a strikeout, ending the inning and leaving the Phillies with just one run to show for a bases-loaded, no out scenario.

Following a tough break in the field for Ruf, Alexi Amarista laid down a safety squeeze in the home top of the seventh that put the Padres back ahead, 4-3.

That run turned out to be the game-winner, as the Padres bullpen allowed just one hit from innings seven through nine, with Fernando Rodney notching the save in the ninth inning.

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Starting Pitchers

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Andrew Cashner	5+	7	3	3	1	5	0	8.00
Aaron Nola	7	6	4	4	0	9	1	3.21

Though Aaron Nola gave up three runs between the third and fourth innings, and did finish his outing one earned run shy of a technical 'quality start', he gave the Phillies a chance to win this afternoon. He settled in after the aforementioned rough patch of innings, and had it not been for Darin Ruf's foot coming off of the bag in the seventh inning, he may have escaped his outing having given up just three runs.

Through two starts this season, Nola has looked the part of the type of pitcher who will eventually be a very good No. 3 in the team's rotation, as he is hittable, but effective in both his ability to get outs and go deep into games.

Cashner's line isn't indicative of the situation that he left the game in. In the sixth inning, Cashner loaded up the bases and exited with no outs, only for a questionable infield-fly call that turned into a double play to aid his relievers in limiting the damage to just one run. That play not only saved Cashner's line for the day, but probably saved a Padres win.

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At the Plate

Padres