Kyle Schwarber homered in his first at-bat with the Phillies, reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper knocked in a run and Aaron Nola struck out seven to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-5 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday.
Schwarber’s first opening day in Philadelphia was one to remember for the 29-year-old slugger. Fresh off the $79 million, four-year contract he signed last month, Schwarber crushed a 427-foot homer to right off A’s starter Frankie Montas on just his seventh pitch of the game. Schwarber took an energetic run around the bases for his 14th career leadoff homer. The sellout crowd of 44,232 went wild and Schwarber thrust his helmet in the air for a rousing curtain call.
That’s the kind of inning the Phillies had in mind when they beefed up the offense to try to snap a postseason drought that dates to 2011. The Phillies spent $179 million on Nick Castellanos and Schwarber after Harper pushed the front office to improve the team following an 82-80 finish last season. Schwarber, who added an RBI single in the eighth for a 9-5 lead, won a World Series with the Chicago Cubs and has played in the postseason in six of his seven seasons in the majors.
Nola, the 2018 All-Star who went 9-9 with a 4.63 ERA last season, made his fifth straight opening day start. Chad Pinder hit a solo homer in the fourth. Seth Brown's three-run shot in the seventh chased Nola . The A's made it 6-5 but Brad Hand struck out Jed Lowrie looking with runners on second and third to end the seventh.The Phillies put OF Mickey Moniak on the 10-day IL with a broken right hand.
The Phillies in the offseason settled a legal dispute with the Phanatic’s creator that allowed baseball’s most beloved native of the Galapagos Islands to return to his natural green, furry, bulbous-belly state. The Phanatic wasn’t the only part of the Phillies that needed a facelift. The home run Liberty Bell had been on the fritz the last few seasons but was repaired in time for opening day. Phillies executive vice president David Buck said 26,000 LED lights were added to the bell and a new hydraulic system was installed to make the bell sway when the Phillies go deep.