By Theo DeRosa, Sports Talk Philly staff 
Final: Phillies 4, Reds 3
CINCINNATI—Expectations for another dismal Phillies season flew out of Great American Ball Park with César Hernández's leadoff home run.
As Hernández, the first batter of Monday night's Phillies opener, took Cincinnati Reds starter Scott Feldman deep, optimism seemed to carry the day around Philadelphia. When Freddy Galvis cracked a solo shot in the second inning, the overwhelming emotion surrounding the 2017 season was a good one.
Whether Monday night's 3-1 Phillies win bodes well for the rest of the season is yet to be determined, but it certainly marks a difference from the opening games of the last two seasons: 2015's loss against Boston and 2016's defeat at Cincinnati.
This year, the Phillies were willing to return the favor against the Reds, who broke open last year's opener in the eighth inning against David Hernandez.
For the Phillies, Jeremy Hellickson completed five innings of one-run ball and delivered one run of his own with an RBI triple.
The Phils' bullpen shut out the Reds through the eighth; Jeanmar Gómez allowed a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth, but held on for the save.
WP: Jeremy Hellickson (1-0, 1.80) ❖ LP: Scott Feldman (0-1, 5.79) ❖ S: Gómez (1)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| PHI | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| CIN |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
Hernández's homer was the first Opening Day leadoff shot since Heinie Mueller against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Later in the inning, Maikel Franco singled and Michael Saunders doubled him home, as Franco slid in a hand to beat the tag of Tucker Barnhart.
Galvis went deep in the second to cushion starter Jeremy Hellickson with a quick 3-0 lead. Hellickson had a tenuous grip on the lead, loading the bases with no outs in the third inning and with one out in the fourth, but allowed just one run, a third-inning sac fly off the bat of Billy Hamilton.
The rain began to pour down into Great American Ball Park around the fourth inning, as some fans reached for their ponchos and others abandoned their seats for the alluring safety of the concourses. Somehow, the ballgame escaped a delay.
Cincinnati reliever Barrett Astin took over for Feldman, whose 99th and final pitch walked Odubel Herrera to put two men on with two out in the fifth. The righty Astin, making his big-league debut, was the victim of an error by Zack Cozart that loaded the bases before Saunders grounded out to end the threat.
Against veteran reliever Blake Wood in the top of the sixth, Hellickson shot a liner under the glove of Scott Schebler in right and cruised into third base, scoring Galvis from second to put the Phillies up 4-1.
New Phillies broadcaster John Kruk hypothesized that running the bases took something out of Hellickson — he ceded a double to Adam Duvall to lead off the bottom of the frame and was pulled in favor of free-agent acquisition Joaquin Benoit. Benoit struck out Eugenio Suárez and Schebler, then got Cozart to fly out to erase the threat.
Former National Drew Storen pitched a scoreless top of the seventh around a double by Herrera and, befuddling to the CSN booth, an automatic intentional walk to Saunders.
Edubray Ramos took the seventh for the Phillies, inducing a double play turned by Tommy Joseph on a liner to first. With two outs, Hamilton shot a ball to the wall and made it effortlessly to third, but was stranded there when José Peraza struck out on three pitches.
Brock Stassi, who improbably made the Phillies' 25-man roster, pinch-hit against Michael Lorenzen in the eighth inning. He worked a walk on five pitches, never taking the bat off his shoulder. He made it to second on a wild pitch.
Héctor Neris pitched a perfect eighth, striking out Reds star Joey Votto, who posted a disappointing 0-4 night. Jeanmar Gómez gave up a homer to Scooter Gennett with two outs in the ninth, but got Hamilton to fly out and preserved the win.
The Phillies get an off day tomorrow, but barring rain, right-hander Jerad Eickhoff will take the hill in Cincinnati at 7:10 on Wednesday against lefty Brandon Finnegan.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Hellickson | 5.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.80 |
| Scott Feldman | 4.2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5.79 |
Reds
- Scooter Gennett: 1-2, R, HR, 2 RBI, .500 AVG
- José Peraza: 2-4, .500 AVG
- Billy Hamilton: 1-4, 3B, SF, RBI, .250 AVG
Phillies
- Howie Kendrick: 3-5, 2B, .600 AVG
- Odubel Herrera: 1-3, 2 BB, .333 AVG
- Freddy Galvis, 2-4, 2B, R, HR, RBI, .500 AVG
Bullpen
Reds
- Barrett Astin (5th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Blake Wood (6th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 9.00 ERA
- Drew Storen (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Michael Lorenzen (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Raisel Iglesias (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
Phillies
- Joaquin Benoit (6th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Edubray Ramos (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Hector Neris (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Jeanmar Gomez (9th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 18.00 ERA
What's Next
- Wednesday, April 5, 2017: at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 p.m.
- Great American Ball Park
- RHP Jerad Eickhoff (–) vs. LHP Brandon Finnegan (–)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
