Phillies Sweep Astros to Begin Season

“Really excited about Phils, could not have gone better this weekend!”

“Halladay could have gotten the win Friday”

The first line is a text I sent to my dad after the Philadelphia Phillies completed a three game sweep of the Houston Astros Sunday afternoon. His response was laden with sarcasm, which is hard to decipher through a text, unless you know my dad.

Before this season, the Phils had lost four of their previous five opening day games. Since the Phillies became a power in the National League, they have gotten off to slow-starts in April nearly ever year. Their records in the first 10 games of the season since 2007 are as follows: 2007 – 2-8, 2008 – 4-6, 2009 – 4-6, and they finally came around in 2010 to start 8-2.

The notoriously slow-starting Philadelphia Phillies took eight innings to get going for the start of the 2011 season. Defending Cy Young winner Roy Halladay took the mound Friday afternoon against former Phil, Bret Myers. Both starters were effective but the Phillies could not muster any offense against Myers. Halladay gave up one run in 6 innings, but the bullpen (JC Romero and David Herndon) gave up three runs in the seventh and the Phils quickly found themselves down 4-0. Entering the 9th inning, the home team had cut the deficit in half and trailed 4-2 against Astros’ closer Brandon Lyon. The Phils had only managed two hits in the first eight innings of the game, but they put their bats to work in the bottom half of the inning. Consecutive singles by Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard started the inning and set the table. Raul Ibanez then popped out, but that would be the only out Lyon recorded as the Phillies kept the singles train rolling. Ben Francisco, Carlos Ruiz, Wilson Valdez, and finally pinch-hitter John Mayberry Jr. all singled to take the opening day game by a count of 5-4. Mayberry Jr. recorded his first walk off hit and has been up to the big club a few times but spent most of last season in the minors. It was complete pandemonium in front of the sell-out crowd at Citizen’s bank park and an incredible way to start the season.

It did not get any easier for the Astros as the weekend wore on. Former Cy Young winner, and former Phillie, last seen in a Phils' uniform racking up a 2-0 record in the 2009 World Series against the Yankees, took the bump Saturday evening. Your Hitter’s Count Blog correspondent was able to take in pregame festivities in the K Lot before this game. I arrived at 4 pm for the 7:05 start time and the parking lots were already jam packed. There is a huge buzz for this team and the people are coming out in droves to support it. The Phils jumped on Astros’ starter Wandy Rodriguez for two runs in the first inning with RBIs from the white-hot Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez. Staking Cliff Lee to a 2-0 lead in the first inning is like a shark smelling blood in the water. Lee was seemingly in control all-game, pounding away at the strike zone. Lee normally gets outs early in the count, but tonight he was finishing batters off with strikeouts. He racked up 11 Ks in 7 innings and is currently second in the majors to only the Cubs’ Matt Garza who recorded 12. His only hiccup was a fastball left out over the plate to Houston’s Carlos Lee. Lee sent a 2 run moon-shot deep into the left field stands but the Phils had already built a comfortable lead and that only cut the score to 7-3 good guys. The Phils tacked on two more insurance runs and Houston added another as well as the boys in the red pinstripes upped their record to 2-0 with a 9-4 victory.

Roy Oswalt started opening day for the Houston Astros for the last eight years. This year, he started the third game for the Phillies and took the mound against his only former club. Once again, the Phillies got off to a hot start in the first inning. Placido Polanco and Jimmy Rollins reached base safely to set up The Big Piece – Ryan Howard. Astros’ starter, Bud Norris, fell behind the big man 3 balls and no strikes. Now I do not know if Astros’ manager is unaware of Phillies manager Charlie Manuel’s free-swinging attitude when it comes to allowing his hitters the freedom to have a green-light on a 3-0 count, but he certainly is aware after Sunday’s game. Bud Norris grooved a fastball down the outer half of the plate and Howard took care of the rest. Not surprisingly, the man who leads all of baseball since 2005 with 254 home runs, hit the Phillies first long ball of the season. It was a blast to center-field that landed in the home team’s bullpen. 3-0 Phillies. Two batters later Ben Francisco sent out a solo shot to left field, and Roy Oswalt had all the support he would need. Falling behind early and playing catch up against the arms this team has going each and every night is going to be a very daunting task for Phillies’ opponents. There was not much drama left in the game after the Phils built their early lead and Oswalt's day was finished having allowed two runs in six innings. The Phils tacked on more runs throughout the game with another 3-0 green light smash from Howard. This time he nailed one off the top of the fence in right field for an RBI double. He added a single in his third at bat and was robbed of a bases loaded hit by the shift he faces so often in his fourth at bat. The Astros managed three runs, one on an opposite field home run by Hunter Pence, and fell victim to the first sweep of the 2011 season for the Fightin’ Phils.

Just to get an idea of the respect the Phils are being shown this season, here is a quote from the Astros’ manager after Sunday’s game was completed. ''I thought we played well,'' manager Brad Mills said. ''We just got behind the 8-ball in a couple of games. I was very pleased with the way the guys battled.'' In other words, he was not all that disappointed in dropping the first three games of the season. That ought to tell you something about what the Phils are capable of this season.

From the amazing stats department:

Halladay, Lee, and Oswalt had a combined strikeout to walk ratio of 23 to 1.

Halladay, Lee, and Oswalt had a combined WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of .79. To put that in perspective Lee led the majors last year at 1.003.

The Phillies are batting .349 as a team.

Ryan Howard is 7-13 (.538 average) and leads the National League with 6 RBIs.

Jimmy Rollins is 6-12 with a .571 on base percentage.

Ben Francisco is 6-13 with a .500 on base percentage.

Obviously, these stats are skewed so early in the season, but they are impressive nonetheless. As per my statements in the season preview, Howard and Rollins certainly came through big time this weekend, which allowed the Phils to get off to the hot-start they are currently enjoying.

Next up for the Fightins is a visit to Queens and Citi Field to take on the division rival New York Mets.

From the former Phillies department:

The 126 million dollar man Jayson Werth had a solid first three games with the Washington Nationals who lost two of three to the Atlanta Braves. He is batting .400 with 2 walks and two doubles in the early going.

Bobby Abreu went 5-5 for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (or whatever they are referring to themselves as these days) Sunday and is batting .412 with a .524 on base percentage. He has drawn 4 walks in the early going and is tied for the American League lead in that department.

Pat Burrell is one of four players in the National League with two home runs.

Perhaps the most impressive former Phillie was young Kyle Drabek; the centerpiece of the Blue Jays end of the Roy Halladay trade. Drabek went seven innings, striking out seven, and allowing only one hit. He picked up the victory for the Blue Jays over the Twins.