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The Philies got a fantastic start from Roy Halladay and a ninth inning home run from Laynce Nix yesterday as they topped the Marlins 2-1.

With the win the Phils take the series two games to one. Each of the three games were tied at 1-1 after eight innings. The Phils won the opener with the help of a two-run tenth inning that featured an RBI-triple from Utley. They lost the middle game after Phillippe Aumont walked the leadoff hitter for the Marlins in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game. Yesterday they won behind Halladay’s excellent start and the late pinch-hit blast from Nix.

After two atrocious starts to begin the season, Halladay allowed a run over eight innings yesterday. He came into the game having thrown to a 5.83 ERA over his last 22 starts. He faced a Miami lineup that featured Placido Polanco hitting third and Greg Dobbs batting cleanup.

The Phillies have offensive problems of their own as they take the series despite scoring just six runs in three games. They have been notably miserable against left-handed pitching, posting a 141/193/205 against lefties for the season. Howard and Utley have led the way in that department by going a combined 2-for-26. Revere has contributed an 0-for-8 against lefties to start the year. Rollins and Young are a combined 4-for-22 (both 2-for-11).

The Phillies are 6-6 on the year after beating the Miami Marlins 2-1 yesterday afternoon. The Phils take the series two games to one and have won four of their last five.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing a run on five hits and one walk. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out two. The win was the 200th for his career.

That’s probably the best start for Halladay since August 10, 2012, when he held the Cardinals to a run on two hits over eight innings. 7.63 ERA and a 1.57 ratio for the year.

Halladay set the Marlins down in order in the bottom of the first.

Greg Dobbs doubled to right to start the second. Justin Ruggiano bunted him to third with the first out, but Halladay got Rob Brantly to pop to Galvis at short for the second out and Chris Valaika on a fly ball to center to leave Dobbs at third.

No run for Miami after putting a runner on third with one out.

Adeiny Hechavarria started the third with a single to right and the pitcher Kevin Slowey bunted him to second with the first out. Juan Pierre went down on a foul ball handled by Quintero for the second out. Chris Coghlan hit a ball in the hole between first and second, but Utley made a nice sliding play to field the ball and throw to first in time to end the inning.

One of two nice defensive plays by Utley in the game. He made a similar play to end the eighth.

Placido Polanco started the fourth with a single, but Halladay got the next three Fish in order to keep them off the board.

He set the bottom of the order down 1-2-3 in the fifth.

Up 1-0, he set the Marlins down in order in the sixth.

Ruggiano singled with one out in the seventh and Brantly walked behind him. Valaika was next and singled to left with Ruggiano scoring just ahead of the throw from Brown to tie the game at 1-1 with men on first and second for Hechavarria. Hechavarria flew to center and Revere doubled Brantly off of second to end the inning.

Brantly’s walk was the only one issued by Halladay in the game.

Halladay set the Marlins down in order in the eighth. Utley made a nice sliding play on a ball hit by Coghlan for the third out.

Papelbon started the ninth with a 2-1 lead. Polanco led off and Papelbon walked him on four pitches. Dobbs lined to center on a nice running catch by Revere for the first out. Ruggiano flew to right for the second. Righty Donovan Solano hit for the pitcher Jon Rauch and fouled out to Kratz to end the game.

Nice running catch by Revere after the leadoff walk to Polanco changes the inning.

Fifth appearance of the year for Papelbon. He allowed two runs in an inning in his first outing of the season. Since then he’s allowed one hit and one walk over four scoreless innings in four appearances. He threw 22 pitches in the game.

The Phillie lineup against righty Kevin Slowey went (1) Revere (2) Galvis (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Quintero. Galvis starts at short with Rollins on the bench. Quintero again catches Halladay, but this time it’s a day game after a night game. Galvis can’t hit second. Revere and Galvis at the top of the order isn’t the way to go.

Galvis singled to left with one out in the top of the first and moved up to third on a two-out single by Howard. Young flew to right to leave both runners stranded.

Mayberry singled with one out in the second, but was caught stealing as Quintero struck out to set the Phillies down.

Revere and Galvis singled back-to-back with one out in the third. It put runners on the corners for Utley, but Utley grounded into a double-play to turn the Phils away.

The Phillies went in order in the fourth.

Quintero doubled to center with one out in the fifth. Halladay struck out behind him for the second out before Revere reached on an infield single that moved Quintero up to third. Revere stole second before Galvis walked, loading the bases for Utley. Utley grounded to second to leave them loaded.

Utley grounds into a double-play with runners on the corners to end the third, then grounds out to second with the bases loaded to end the fifth.

Howard doubled to left to start the sixth. Young was next and hit a ball back up the middle, off the glove of Hechavarria and into center for a single. Howard scored and the Phils led 1-0 with Young taking second as the throw came home. Brown lined softly to second for the first out before Mayberry walked. Righty Chad Qualls came in to pitch to Quintero and Quintero grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

Halladay, Revere and Galvis went in order in the seventh.

It was 1-1 when Utley and Howard singled back-to-back to start the eighth. It put runners on first and second with nobody out for Young and Young grounded into a double-play that left Utley at third with two down. The righty Qualls walked Brown intentionally, putting runners on the corners for Mayberry. Rollins hit for Mayberry and righty Jon Rauch came in to pitch to him. Rollins flew to left to set the Phillies down.

Kratz hit for Quintero to start the ninth and Rauch got him on a fly ball to center for the first out. Nix hit for Halladay and blasted a 1-1 pitch way out to right, putting the Phils up 2-1. Revere grounded to short for the second out. Galvis was next and Rauch threw a 1-2 pitch at his head. Galvis managed to get out of the way, but the ball hit him in his right hand up near his head. Galvis stayed in the game and Utley fouled out to third to set the Phillies down.

Rollins was already out of the game, having pinch-hit for Mayberry in the eighth, so it would have been a big problem if Galvis had been unable to play defense in the bottom of the ninth.

Revere was 2-for-5 with a stolen base in the game. 4-for-12 with a walk and a steal in the series. 240/296/240 on the season. The Phillies’s team OPS of .536 out of the #1 spot in the order is 28th of the 30 MLB teams.

Galvis 2-for-3 with a walk in the game and 3-for-6 with two walks in the series. He started at third in game two of the series and at short in game three. 3-for-9 with two walks so far. Rollins was 0-for-1 yesterday and 0-for-8 with two walks in the series. He’s hitting 261/320/435 for the season.

Utley 1-for-5 yesterday and left seven men on base. Made two nice defensive plays at second to end the inning, once in the third and again in the eighth. 2-for-14 with a triple and an RBI in the series — the triple in the top of the tenth in game one put the Phils on top to stay. 277/327/532 for the year. 1-for-12 against lefties.

Howard 3-for-4 with a double. 6-for-12 with a walk and four doubles in the set. 277/314/426 for the season. 1-for-14 against lefties.

Young 1-for-4 with an RBI in the game and 3-for-10 with two RBI in the series. He didn’t start on game two due to illness. 419/486/645 against right-handed pitching in 35 plate appearances.

Brown 0-for-3 with a walk, which was intentional. 3-for-12 with a walk and a double in the series. 244/292/400 for the year. 6-for-his-last-30. He has three walks on the season, two of which have been intentional.

Mayberry 1-for-2 with a walk in the game and in the series. 286/423/571 for the year.

Quintero 1-for-3 with a double in the game and in the series. He’s 2-for-9 with a double on the season. Kratz is hitting 184/179/316 for the year after going 1-for-9 in the set.

Cliff Lee (2-0, 1.86) faces righty Bronson Arroyo (1-1, 5.25) tonight in Cincinnati. Lee has gone at least eight innings in each of his fantastic starts. Opponents are hitting .167 against him for the year and he hasn’t walked a batter in 16 2/3 innings. Arroyo has gone six innings in both of his starts. Lefties are 10-for-25 (.400) against him in the early going.

The Phillies scored five runs in the bottom of the first last night on their way to a 7-3 win. Their first six hitters of the game combined to go 4-for-6 with a single, a double, two home runs and two walks off of Mets starter Jeremy Hefner.

It was the second straight miserable start for Hefner against the Phillies going back to last season. In his last two starts against the Phils, Hefner has allowed 12 earned runs on 12 hits and four walks over three innings.

The Phils feasted on the bottom of the Mets rotation in the series, scoring 12 runs in the six innings pitched by Dillon Gee and Hefner as they won the last two games.

The Phillies scored all seven of their runs last night on home runs. Utley hit a two-run shot in the first, which was followed soon after by a three-run bomb by Brown. Nix hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the sixth.

Michael Young continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-3 with a double. He’s 9-for-his-last-16 with four extra-base hits. 455/538/773 against right-handed pitching in the early going, coming off of a 2012 season in which he hit 257/291/352 against righties.

The Phillies are 4-5 on the year after beating the New York Mets 7-3 last night. They take the series two games to one. First series win of the year for the Phils in three tries. First time they have won two games in a row on the season. They are 0-4 when Hamels or Halladay start and 4-1 when somebody else starts.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and two walks. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and two home runs. He struck out six.

5.40 ERA and a 1.71 ratio after two starts. Lefties are hitting .480 against him — 12-for-25 with two walks, three doubles, a home run and 480/519/720 line.

Jordany Valdespin was the first hitter of the game and reached on a softly hit infield single. Daniel Murphy flew to right for the first out, bringing David Wright to the plate with Valdespin still on first. Kendrick struck Wright out swinging as Valdespin took off for second. Kratz threw him out from his knees on a bounce to end the inning.

Impressive throw by Kratz.

Kendrick started the second with a 5-0 lead. John Buck homered to left-center with one out. 5-1. Lucas Duda followed with a double to right and Mike Baxter walked behind Duda, putting men on first and second with one down for Ruben Tejada. Tejada singled softly to right, loading the bases for the pitcher Jeremy Hefner. Kendrick struck Hefner out looking for the second out and Valdespin out looking to end the frame.

Valdespin struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch that looked like a ball to me, but whatever. Still a great job by Kendrick to get out of the inning after the Mets load the bases with one out.

Tired of John Buck. He was 4-for-12 in the series with three home runs and drove in six of the 13 runs New York scored. Duda was pretty impressive as well — 3-for-4 with a double and two home runs last night. 5-for-9 with a double, two home runs and a walk in the series.

Kendrick set the Mets down in order in the third.

Duda homered to right with one out in the fourth. 5-2. Baxter followed with a double, but Kendrick got Tejada on a ground ball to Utley that moved Duda up to third for the second out. Righty Justin Turner hit for the pitcher Hefner, but Kendrick got him on a ground ball to Utley as well to set the Mets down.

The game was delayed by rain for 27 minutes in the bottom of the fourth. Kendrick returned after the delay to start the fifth. Valdespin led off and bunted for a single. Murphy was the next batter and Kendrick walked him, putting two men on for Wright. Wright struck out swinging for the first out. Ike Davis was next and he hit a blooper into left-center. Revere made a nice running catch for the second out. Murphy was way off of second and Revere threw there to double him off and end the inning.

Very nice play by Revere, both to get to the ball and to make the throw. His momentum was taking him away from second base, but he managed to get off a pretty reasonable throw to get Murphy. Not sure exactly what Murphy was thinking — best guess would be he thought Revere was going to throw home or couldn’t throw at all. Either way it was bad base-running and a nice play by Revere.

Baxter singled to right with two outs in the six. Tejada flew to Revere for the third out.

Bastardo started the seventh with a 7-2 lead. Valdespin reached on an infield single with one out, but Bastardo got the next two.

Three scoreless innings over three appearances for Bastardo. He’s allowed a single and two walks.

Adams started the eighth. He struck Buck out for the first out and Davis out for the second before Duda hit a 2-1 pitch out to right. 7-3. Lefty Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit for the pitcher Scott Rice and Adams struck him out looking to end the frame.

Adams was pitching for the second day in a row. He’s now allowed a run on two hits in 3 1/3 innings over four appearances. He has struck out seven. I assume if there was no off-day today, Manuel would have called on Aumont rather than Adams to pitch the eighth with a five-run lead. Aumont has made one appearance since April 1 and two on the year.

Papelbon threw the ninth in heavy rain. Tejada led off with a single, but Marlon Byrd was next and Papelbon got him to ground into a double-play. Valdespin struck out looking to end the game.

Glad to see Papelbon used in a non-save situation there. After allowing two runs in an inning in his first appearance of the year, he’s allowed one single in two scoreless frames his last two times out.

Overall the pen goes three innings, allowing a run on the Duda homer off of Adams. Three hits, no walks and four strikeouts. Adams has pitched two days in a row, but will surely be available Friday in Miami given the off-day today.

The Phillie lineup against righty Jeremy Hefner went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Kratz. Mayberry in right again against the righty after a big day against righty starter Dillon Gee in game two of the set.

Revere led off the bottom of the first and walked on five pitches. With Rollins at the plate he stole second, but slid through the base and was tagged out for the first out. It cost the Phils a run, cause Rollins doubled to right and Utley followed that with a home run to center. 2-0. Howard singled and Young walked before Brown blasted a 2-1 pitch down the right field line and well out for another homer. 5-0. Mayberry struck out looking for the second out and Kratz flew to center.

Really not a fan of the Revere stolen base, even if it works and it doesn’t cost the Phillies a run. If the only batter the pitcher has faced in the game is Ben Revere and he walked him on five pitches, it’s a good sign he hasn’t settled in yet. Make him get an out first.

The lead was cut to 5-1 when the Phils went in order in the second.

Howard singled to right with one out in the third on a ball that hit the wall after a bounce or two. Young was next and ripped a line drive in to left-center for a double, sending Howard to third. Hefner got behind Brown 3-0 after Brown had hit a moon shot in his previous at-bat, then put him on intentionally to lead the bases for Mayberry. Mayberry popped to short with the runners holding for the second out. Kratz was next and blooped a ball into right-center, but Valdespin made a nice shoestring catch after a long run to retire the side.

Big play by Valdespin takes runs away from the Phillies.

Howard can’t run. Young can, at least a lot better than I thought he could. I had no idea. The hustle double was the third time in two games he made an aggressive play on the bases and was safe.

Mayberry can’t bring the runner home from the third with one out, popping out to short with the bases loaded and one down. He also struck out in the bottom of the first as the first batter retired by Hefner.

The lead was cut to 5-2 when lefty Josh Edgin struck out Kendrick, Revere and Rollins in the fourth.

Young singled to center with two outs in the fifth. Brown flew to center on a sliding catch by Valdespin to end the inning.

Second nice play of the game by Valdespin in center after he took a hit away from Kratz with the bases loaded to end the third.

Kratz singled off of righty Latroy Hawkins with one out in the sixth. Nix hit for Kendrick and hit a 3-1 pitch out to right-center, extending the Phillie lead to 7-2. Revere grounded to third for the second out before Rollins singled to left. Lefty Scott Rice came in to pitch to Utley and retired him on a fly ball to center for the third out.

Rice set Howard, Young and Brown down in order in the seventh.

Righty Bobby Parnell threw a 1-2-3 eighth with the lead cut to 7-3. Galvis hit for Adams and flew to left for the third out.

Revere was 0-for-3 with a walk and a caught stealing in the game. 1-for-11 with two walk in the series drops his line to 211/268/211 after 41 plate appearances. Made a nice play to double Murphy off of second base. The Phillies are averaging about 4.67 runs per game, which is remarkable given that their leadoff man is on-basing .268. Revere is 0-for-8 against lefties on the year.

Rollins 2-for-4 with a double. 4-for-12 with three doubles in the game. 316/350/526 for the year. 357/400/607 against right-handed pitching. I think Rollins will lead off and Revere will be dropped to seven or eight soon if Revere does not start hitting.

Utley 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in the game. 2-for-10 with two walks and a home run in the series. 333/395/636 for the year.

Howard 2-for-4 with two singles. 3-for-11 with a home run in the series. 200/237/286 for the year. If you’re team is scoring 4.67 runs per game, your leadoff man is on-basing .268 and your cleanup hitter is on-basing .237 and slugging .286, something is going pretty well somewhere else.

Michael Young is one of the things going very right offensively. 2-for-3 with a double and a walk in the game. 5-for-11 with a walk, a double, a triple and a home run in the series. He seemed to run the bases unusually well in the series, aggressively successful in taking an extra-base on three occasions. 375/459/594 on the year.

Brown 1-for-3 with a walk and a three-run homer. 2-for-11 with a walk and a homer in the set. 242/286/424 for the year. Hitting .231 against right-handed pitching.

Mayberry 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 2-for-8 with a double and a home run in the series. 263/391/579 for the year.

Kratz 1-for-4 in the game and made a nice throw to nail Valdespin in the top of the first. 3-for-9 with a double in the series. 207/200/379 for the year. Hasn’t drawn a walk in 30 plate appearances.

The Phillies are off today and play the Marlins in Florida tomorrow night.

Their season is only eight games old, but twice already the Phillies have needed a big start from Cliff Lee and twice he has delivered. Last night he gave the overworked middle relievers a break as he went 8 2/3 innings in an 8-3 win over the Mets.

After two starts, Lee is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA and an 0.60 ratio. He has thrown 16 2/3 innings, striking out 14 and walking none. Righties are hitting .133 against him.

The offense delivered seven early runs, scoring four in the second before Howard, Young and Mayberry all hit solo home runs in the third. Mayberry started in right against a right-handed pitcher and had a big day, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. He’s 4-for-12 with three doubles, a home run and three walks against righties in the early going (333/467/833). Young tripled and homered, going 3-for-4 in the game and driving in a pair of runs.

The Phillies are 3-5 on the year after beating the New York Mets 8-3 last night. The teams have split the first two games of the three-game series.

Lee got the start for the Phillies and went 8 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. Only two of the runs were earned. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, a double, a triple and a home run. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.

Daniel Murphy and John Buck both singled in the top of the first, but Lee got Marlon Byrd on a fly ball to center to leave two men stranded.

Lucas Duda singled to start the second, but Lee got Justin Turner to ground into a double-play behind him. Ruben Tejada flew to right for the third out.

Lee started the third up 4-0 and set the Mets down in order.

It was 7-0 when he started the fourth. David Wright led off and reached on a throwing error by Rollins, putting a man on for Buck. Buck hit the first pitch he saw from Lee out to right, cutting the lead to 7-2. Lee got the next three.

Second home run the opposite way for Buck in two games in the set. The error by Rollins ahead of the home run costs the Phils a run.

It was 8-2 when Jordany Valdespin tripled to center with one out in the fifth. Valdespin scored on a passed ball (8-3) before Lee struck out Collin Cowgill for the second out. Murphy doubled to right, but was left at second when Wright grounded to short.

Second miscue by the Phils on the passed ball by Kratz, although Valdespin would have scored from third on Murphy’s double anyway.

Lee set the Mets down in order in the sixth. Lefty Mike Baxter hit for the pitcher and struck out looking for the third out.

Lee needed seven pitches to set New York down in order in the seventh.

He struck out Murphy in a 1-2-3 eighth.

Byrd singled to right with one out in the ninth. Righty Anthony Recker hit for the pitcher Brandon Lyon and Lee struck him out looking for the second out. Turner was next and moved Byrd up to second with a single. Lee had thrown 106 pitches in the game and Manuel called on Adams to pitch to the righty Ruben Tejada. Tejada struck out looking 0-2 to end the game.

I thought it was a very good decision by Manuel to pull Lee when he did. The middle of the pen has been overused, but the guys at the back, Adams, Papelbon, Aumont and Bastardo, haven’t had a ton to do.

It was the third appearance of the year for Adams. He has struck out four in 2 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing one hit.

The Phillie lineup against righty Dillon Gee went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Kratz. Kratz behind the plate after Quintero caught Halladay in game one of the set. Revere continues to lead off despite his slow start in combination with Rollins hitting well. Mayberry starts in right against the righty with Nix on the bench.

The Phillies went in order in the bottom of the first.

Young and Brown singled back-to-back with one out in the second. Brown’s ball was hit softly to left. The throw went to third and hit Young, allowing Brown to move up to second. Mayberry cleared the bases with a double down the third base line. 2-0. Kratz grounded to third for the second out before Lee singled into center, scoring Mayberry to put the Phils up 3-0. Revere moved Lee up to second with a single before Rollins doubled into the right field corner. Lee scored (4-0) and Revere moved up to third. Utley flew to left to leave the runners at second and third.

Very nice hustle on the bases by both Young and Brown on Brown’s single. Young took third on the single and Brown ran hard to take the extra-base when Duda’s throw hit Young.

Revere doesn’t score from first on the two-out double by Rollins.

Howard led off the third and hit a 1-1 pitch out to left-center. 5-0. Young was next and hit the first pitch he saw out the opposite way. 6-0. Brown flew to left for the first out before Mayberry lined a 1-0 pitch out to left. 7-0. Kratz singled, but Lee and Revere went down to leave him stranded.

Quite an inning as Howard, Young and Mayberry all put home run number one for the season on the board. All three go after Gee early in the count. Howard and Young hit the ball out the opposite way and Mayberry pulls his down the line.

Righty Glen Burke was on the mound for the Mets when the Phils hit in the fourth with their lead cut to 7-1. Utley walked with one out. Howard lined to Tejada for the second out before Utley stole second. It brought Young to the plate and he tripled to center, scoring Utley to make it 8-1. Brown grounded to short for the third out.

Young was again aggressive on the bases as he went for three. The Mets probably would have had him with a good relay to third. They didn’t get one.

It was 8-3 when Burke set the Phillies down in order in the fifth.

Utley walked off of lefty Scott Rice with two outs in the sixth, stole second and took third on a throwing error. Howard struck out swinging to leave him at third.

Righty Latroy Hawkins set Young, Brown and Mayberry down in order in the seventh.

Brown is 5-for-25 against righties on the season.

Righty Brandon Lyon set Kratz, Lee and Revere down in order in the eighth. Lee hit for himself having thrown 96 pitches in the game.

Revere was 1-for-5 in the game. He’s hitting .229 without an extra-base hit.

Rollins 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. He made a throwing error in front of the Buck home run that cost the Phils a run. 8-for-25 with two walks and four extra-base hits against righties (320/370/560).

Utley 0-for-2 with two walks and two stolen bases.

Howard 1-for-4 with a strikeout and his first home run. 161/206/258 on the year in 34 plate appearances.

Young 3-for-4 with a triple and a home run. 7-for-his-last-13 with three extra-base hits.

Brown 1-for-4 with a bloop single and a strikeout. 2-for-his-last-15 with two singles and no walks.

Mayberry gets the start against the righty Gee and delivers two extra-base hits off of him, going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI in the game.

Kratz 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a passed ball. He’s on-basing .192 with eight strikeouts in 26 plate appearances.

Kendrick (0-1, 7.94) faces righty Jeremy Hefner (0-1, 1.50) tonight. Kendrick pitched better than his line against the Royals in his first start, throwing four scoreless innings to start the game before allowing a two-run single in the fifth. With two outs in the fifth and two men on he was asked to walk Billy Butler intentionally and was then pulled from the game. Horst took over and allowed a three-run triple to Alex Gordon with all three runs charged to Kendrick. Hefner allowed a run to the Marlins over six innings in his first outing of the year.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with Roy Halladay. I am sure the Phillies have worked hard to try to figure it out, but whatever’s going on behind the scenes, what’s happening on the field isn’t working. What’s happening on the field is that Halladay keeps pitching and keeps getting hammered. Last night they changed up his catcher and Halladay allowed seven runs over four miserable innings, upping his ERA for the year to 14.73 for the year after two starts, as the Mets pounded the Phils 7-2.

The Phillies are 0-4 in games started by Hamels or Halladay and 2-1 in games started by anyone else. That duo has combined to throw to a 12.50 ERA in their four starts and gone an average of about four and a half innings per start.

The Phils have two quality starts in the seven games they’ve played, one by Lee and one by Lannan, and they’ve won both of those games. 0-5 in the games where they didn’t get a quality start and their starters have gone an average of about 4.7 innings in those games and thrown to an 11.57 ERA.

The bullpen, very strong at the back end, lacked a middle man when the season started. The Phillies have tried to use Durbin, Horst and Valdes in the middle innings, but they’ve had to use them a lot and none of the three has pitched well. Horst leads that group with a 6.75 ERA and the trio has combined to throw to an 8.16 ERA. Durbin and Horst are both on pace to make about 93 appearances for the season. Horst is on pace to throw about 123 innings in relief, which would be more than his career high of 31 1/3. Valdes is on pace to throw about 131 innings — he’s 35 and has thrown 107 1/3 innings for his career.

The Phillies are 2-5 on the year after losing 7-2 to the New York Mets last night in game one of a three-game set.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went four innings, allowing seven runs on six hits and three walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and a three-run homer by John Buck. He struck out three.

After two starts, Halladay has a 14.73 ERA and a 2.45 ratio. Opponents have hit .353 against him. In 7 1/3 innings he’s walked six and allowed three home runs.

He struck out David Wright in a 1-2-3 first.

Marlon Byrd doubled to center with one out in the second. Lucas Duda was next and Halladay hit him 2-2, putting men on first and second for John Buck. Buck got ahead in the count and hit a 2-0 pitch out to right. 3-0 Mets. Ruben Tejada was next and he drew a walk. Pitcher Matt Harvey tried to bunt Tejada to second, but struck out for the second out. Kirk Nieuwenhuis grounded to Halladay to end the frame.

Daniel Murphy walked to start the third and moved up to second on a ground out by Wright. Ike Davis fouled out to Howard for the second out before Byrd walked on a 3-2 pitch Halladay thought caught the outside part of the plate. Duda singled into center, scoring Murphy to make it 4-0. Buck grounded to Young to finally set the Mets down.

Revere really can’t throw. Not that it needs to go near the top of the list of Phillie problems or that someone who could would have gunned down Murphy. It’s just a thing.

Halladay had thrown 78 pitches through three innings.

He struck out Nieuwenhuis in a 1-2-3 fourth.

The New York lead was cut to 4-1 when Murphy doubled to right-center to start the fifth. He moved up to third on a wild pitch. With the infield in, Wright singled to left, scoring Murphy. 5-1. Davis moved Wright up to third with a single and that was it for Halladay. Durbin came in to pitch to the righty Byrd and struck him out swinging for the first out. Duda was next and Durbin walked him, loading the bases for Buck. Buck popped to Utley for the second out, but Tejada lined a single into center, scoring two runners and sending Duda to third with the Mets up 7-1. Harvey went down on a ball handled by Quintero to end the frame.

Durbin faces five hitters in the frame, allowing a walk and a two-run single with both runs charged to Halladay. Looks like a scoreless inning for Durbin in the box score. Not so much.

Fourth appearance of the year for Durbin. He has an 8.10 ERA and a 2.70 ratio through 3 1/3 innings. He’s pitched two days in a row.

Horst started the sixth. Righty Collin Cowgill hit for the lefty Nieuwenhuis and Horst struck him out swinging for the first out. Muprhy flew to left for the second before Wright doubled to center. Horst struck Davis out to leave Wright at second.

Horst came back and struck Duda out in a 1-2-3 seventh.

Fourth appearance for Horst as well. Two scoreless innings in two of them. In one he allowed a run in an inning and in the other he was charged with three runs in a third of a frame. He faced seven batters over two innings last night, getting six outs and allowing Wright’s double. Like Durbin, he has thrown two days in a row.

Valdes threw a 1-2-3 eighth. Righty Justin Turner hit for the pitcher Harvey and struck out for the second out.

Valdes was back to pitch the ninth with the New York lead cut to 7-2. Murphy led off with a double to right and Valdes walked Wright behind Murphy. Valdes got the next three, though, getting Davis to foul out to Young for the first out, striking Byrd out for the second and getting Duda to ground to second for the third.

Eight batters for Valdes in the game. Six outs, a double and a walk. Three appearances for the year — last night was the first that wasn’t awful. He has a 9.53 ERA and a 2.12 ratio for the season. Opponents have hit .360 against him.

Unlike Durbin and Horst, Valdes hasn’t thrown two days in a row, but he did throw 26 pitches last night. Horst and Durbin both threw 20. The Phillies really need Cliff Lee to go deep into games these days — it’s not reasonable to expect him to go eight innings every start.

Overall the pen threw five shutout innings, in the game, allowing three hits and two walks. They weren’t quite that good, though, cause Durbin allowed a hit in the walk in relief of Halladay in the fifth with the runs charged to the starter.

Phillie relievers have walked 13 in 22 1/3 innings for the season, which is too many.

The Phillie lineup against righty Matt Harvey went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Nix (8) Quintero. Quintero gets the start behind the plate after Halladay remarked about not being on the same page with Kratz in his first start of the season.

Revere led off the bottom of the first with a walk. He stole second and moved up to third on a ground out by Rollins. Utley was next and the Mets bizarrely brought the infield in. Utley popped to third for the second out. Howard struck out swinging 0-2 to leave Revere at third.

Great job by Revere to get things going with the walk and the steal. Less great job by Utley and Howard as the old guard of the Phils gets set down by Harvey. Utley can’t bring the runner home from third with one out.

Down 3-0, the Phillies went in order in the second.

Quintero led off the third with the Phils down 4-0 and blooped a single into center. Halladay tried to bunt and couldn’t, then struck out looking for the first out. Revere hit into a double-play to set the Phillies down.

Halladay can’t get the bunt down. You probably won’t see Revere ground into a ton of double-plays. He was just nipped at first this time.

Rollins doubled to center to start the fourth and moved up to third on a single by Utley. Howard was next and flew to right for the first out. Rollins tagged and scored to get the Phils on the board at 4-1. Young struck out and Brown flew to center to leave Utley stranded.

Good no strikeout by Howard gets the Phils on the board. Four extra-base hits for Rollins in the early going. Three doubles and a homer in 32 plate appearances with an isolated power of .200.

The Phillies were down 7-1 when they hit in the fifth. Nix led off with a walk. Quintero struck out for the first out. Carrera hit for Durbin and struck out swinging for the second. Revere struck out swinging for the third.

Utley reached on an error by Ike Davis with one out in the sixth. Howard and Young went down behind him.

Harvey set the Phils down in order in the seventh.

Lefty Josh Edgin started the eighth. Kratz, who had entered defensively in the top of the inning, led off with a double down the third base line. Kratz went to third on a ground out by Revere and scored on another by Rollins. 7-2. Utley flew to left for the third out.

Edgin was back for the ninth and got Howard, Young and Brown in order.

Revere 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Did his best to get the Phillies started in the bottom of the first, but they didn’t score with the help of Utley’s popup to third with one out. Revere is 7-for-30 (.233) with seven singles so far.

Rollins 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Utley 1-for-4. No RBI in the first with Revere on third and one out. 3-for-his-last-12 with three singles.

Howard 0-for-3 with an RBI and two strikeouts. 0-for-9 with five strikeouts against lefties for the year. 4-for-27 with four singles overall.

Young was 0-for-4 in the game. He and Mayberry are the unlikely team leaders in walks. They each have four.

Brown 0-for-4 with a strikeout. He is 3-for-his-last-19 after going 3-for-7 to start the season. 4-for-21 (.190) against right-handed pitching.

Nix 0-for-2 with a walk. 3-for-14 with three singles on the year.

Quintero 1-for-3. Failed to spark a return to excellence for Halladay. 1-for-6 on the season.

Cliff Lee (1-0, 0.00) faces righty Dillon Gee (0-1, 1.42) tonight in game two of the set. Lee allowed two singles and struck out eight over eight shutout innings in his first start on the year. Gee was also good in his lone start, allowing a run over 6 1/3 innings against the Padres.

We didn’t learn anything new last night, but seeing Cliff Lee pitch lights out one more time was more than enough for Phillie fans looking for signs of life. Lee was fantastic, allowing two singles over eight shutout innings, and Papelbon threw a 1-2-3 ninth as the Phils topped Atlanta 2-0.

The pitching was outstanding last night, but the Phils have scored four runs over their last two games. More would be better, especially if 60% of the rotation is going to be Kendrick, Lannan and a version of Roy Halladay who can’t get people out. Michael Young and Ryan Howard were quiet in the opening set, combining to go 2-for-21 out of the four and five spots in the order.

The Phillies are 1-2 on the year after beating the Atlanta Braves 2-0 last night. The Braves take the series two games to one.

Cliff Lee got the start for the Phillies and went eight shutout innings, allowing two singles, no walks and striking out eight.

He set the Braves down in order in the bottom of the first.

He started the second up 2-0 and struck out Freddie Freeman and BJ Upton to start the frame before Dan Uggla singled to left. Chris Johnson grounded to first to end the inning.

Lee struck out Gerald Laird and pitcher Kris Medlen in 1-2-3 third.

Justin Upton singled to left with one out in the fourth. Lee got Freeman to ground into a double-play behind Upton.

Freeman 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a GDP through two at-bats after hammering the Phils in games one and two of the set.

Lee struck out Uggla in a 1-2-3 fifth.

Laird led off the sixth and reached on an error by Utley, but Lee got the next three. Righty Reed Johnson hit for the pitcher Cory Gearrin and flew to center for the first out.

Lee struck out both Uptons in a 1-2-3 seventh. Freeman absolutely crushed a ball in-between, but Nix took it on the warning track for the second out.

Lee got a little help from the weather on a cold night in Atlanta on Freeman’s ball. It was well struck.

Lee needed just eight pitches to set Uggla, Johnson and Laird down in order in the eighth.

Papelbon started the ninth with a 2-0 lead. Switch-hitter Ramiro Pena hit for the pitcher Anthony Varvaro and Palelbon struck him out swinging for the first out. Simmons grounded to Utley for the second out and Papelbon got Heyward swinging at a ball way outside to end the game.

Second appearance of the year for Papelbon after allowing two runs in an inning in game two of the set. He threw 11 pitches in the game and has pitched for two days in a row.

The season is only three days old, but last night was the first game of the three in which the pen has been non-terrible. The bullpen threw to a 6.23 ERA in the set and walked five in 8 2/3 innings.

The Phillie lineup against righty Kris Medlen went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Nix (8) Kratz. Nix in right against the lefty with Mayberry on the bench. Manuel did it the other way with righty Tim Hudson on the mound for Atlanta in game one of the series. Mayberry on the bench against a righty appeals a lot, though.

Rollins singled to center with one out in the top of the first. Utley flew out to left before Howard moved Rollins up to second with a single. Rollins stole third on a soft throw back to the mound by Laird before Young walked to load the bases for Brown. Brown grounded to second to leave them loaded.

Howard’s single was a ground ball to where the shortstop would be if the Braves weren’t in their Howard shift.

Nix started the second with a single and moved to third when Kratz followed with a double to left. Lee was next and walked to load the bases for Revere. Revere grounded to short with Lee forced at second for the first out. Nix scored and the Phils led 1-0 with one out and runners on the corner. Revere quickly stole second and Rollins went on to walk, loading the bases for Utley. Utley flew to right, deep enough for Kratz to tag and score from third, putting the Phils up 2-0. Howard lined to Simmons to end the frame.

Glad to see Kratz deliver the double after an awful night at the plate in game two.

Brown singled with one out in the third, but Nix and Kratz went down behind him. Nix hit his ball well, but Heyward took it in right for the second out.

Rollins doubled to right with two outs in the fourth and Utley drew a walk behind him. It put men on first and second for Howard, but Howard grounded out to Uggla in shallow right field to set the Phillies down.

Young and Nix struck out as the Phils went in order in the fifth. Brown smoked a line drive, but Uggla handled it for the second out.

Righty Cory Gearrin set the Phillies down in order in the sixth. Revere hit a ball well into the gap in right-center, but Heyward made a diving catch to take extra-bases away from him for the third out.

Righty Jordan Walden started the seventh. He got Rollins on a fly ball to left for the first out before Utley singled to left. Howard was next and he hammered a ball to center, but BJ Upton took it at the wall after a long run for the second out. Young flew to BJ Upton in right-center to set the Phils down.

Howard hit the ball really well. Not quite well enough on a cold night (41 degrees) in Atlanta.

Anthony Varvaro started the eighth for Atlanta and set Brown, Nix and Kratz down in order.

Varvaro was back for the ninth. Galvis hit for Lee and grounded out to start the inning. Revere singled into center, but was doubled off of first to set the Phillies down when Rollins lined to Uggla.

Revere was 1-for-5 with a stolen base in the game. 3-for-14 with a walk and two steals in the series. 0-for-4 against lefties. I don’t think he’s going to lead off against lefties for too long — not because he’s 0-for-4 against them, but because leading him off against lefties is a poor idea.

Rollins 2-for-4 with a walk, a double and a stolen base in the game. 5-for-14 with a walk, two doubles and two stolen bases in the set.

Utley 1-for-2 with a walk, an error and an RBI. 5-for-11 with a double, a triple, a home run and a walk in the series. He has six RBI for the year — the rest of the team has three (Kratz 1, Revere 1, Howard 1).

Howard was 1-for-4 and left five men on base. He got chances to hit with runners on base in the second, fourth and seventh. Pretty bad start to the season for Howard, he was 1-for-12 with a walk and an RBI. Just three strikeouts, but one came in game one with one out and runners on second and third.

Young 0-for-3 with a walk. 1-for-9 with three walks in the series. He’s obviously not going to walk in 25% of his plate appearances, but I would be thrilled to see him up his walk rate this season. Looked a little shaky defensively at third in game one of the series, but was largely unnoticed defensively after that, which is a good sign.

Brown 1-for-4 with a single and left three men on base. 4-for-11 with four singles and a walk in the series. No strikeouts yet, but no extra-base hits either. He went 2-for-4 in his chances against lefties in the series.

Nix 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. 2-for-6 in the series. Mayberry took over for Nix defensively in right in the bottom of the eighth, but did not have an at-bat in the game. He was 2-for-7 with a double and a walk in the series. No quite sure I understand using Mayberry as a defensive replacement for Nix — Nix is a pretty good defensive outfielder and there’s not a lot of data on Mayberry in right (although his numbers are great in limited time).

Kratz 1-for-4 with a double, which was nice to see after a miserable day at the plate in game two of the set. 2-for-12 with a double and an RBI in the series. Curious comments from Halladay after game two in the set suggesting that he and Kratz may not have been on the same page should be monitored carefully. Quintero is going to get a chance to start a game soon anyway, given that the Phillies play in each of the next six days. Sunday afternoon against the Royals seems likely.

Kendrick gets the start late this afternoon in the home opener against the Royals and righty Wade Davis. Kendrick finished 2012 on a major roll pitching out of the rotation. He threw to a 3.20 ERA over 12 starts to end the year. Davis will be making his first start since 2011 after 54 appearances for the Rays last year, all in relief. He didn’t allow a home run to any of the 130 left-handed batters he faced in 2012 while throwing to a 2.43 ERA with a 1.09 ratio.

The 2013 season started for the Phillies last night and it didn’t start well. Cole Hamels made his first Opening Day start and came up with a klunker, allowing three home runs as the Braves scored five runs charged to him in five innings.

Michael Young didn’t play very well at third and Chad Durbin’s first outing of the year was a dud. Durbin faced three hitters and all three reached base as he was charged with two runs without getting an out.

What did go well was the offense, which plated five runs, and especially Chase Utley. Utley was fantastic at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three RBI. He homered off of righty Tim Hudson in the fourth and tripled off of lefty Eric O’ Flaherty in the seventh.

The Phillies are 0-1 on the season after losing to the Braves 7-5 last night.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and a walk. Five of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and three home runs. He struck out five.

He walked Jason Heyward with one out in the bottom of the first. Justin Upton was next and Hamels struck him out swinging 3-2, but Freddie Freeman followed and blasted a 2-1 pitch out to right, putting Atlanta up 2-0. BJ Upton went down on a ball hit hard back to Hamels to end the inning.

The lefty Freeman had some success against Hamels in the game.

Dan Uggla led off the bottom of the second. Uggla got ahead 3-0 and then hit the fourth pitch of his at-bat out to left. 3-0. Hamels got the next three.

Two of the first six batters that Hamels faces on the year homer. Uggla’s was the only one of the three long balls that Hamels actually turned to look at to see if it would leave the yard. On the other two he just hung his head on the mound when the pitch was hit.

Andrelton Simmons doubled to left to start the third. Hamels got the next two hitters before Freeman lined a single to right, scoring Simmons to put Atlanta up 4-0. Upton flew to center for the third out.

Again the lefty Freeman gets the lefty Hamels. Three RBI in two at-bats for Freeman for the season at that point.

Chris Johnson singled with one out in the fourth and the Atlanta lead cut to 4-1. It brought Gerald Laird to the plate and Laird hit a ball hard down the third base line and off the glove of a diving Young. The ball rolled into foul territory and Young chased — Johnson wound up on third and Laird was at second with a double. The pitcher Tim Hudson was next and grounded to Rollins with the runners holding for the second out. Simmons was next and grounded to third to end the inning.

Generous of the home town scorer to call Laird’s ball on the misplay by Young a double. Hamels puts up his first zero of the year after Atlanta scores in each of the first three innings. The Phils get lucky that it’s the pitcher coming to the plate with one out and men on second and third after the Laird double.

The Atlanta lead was cut to 4-3 when Hamels started the fifth. He got Heyward on a fly ball to right before Justin Upton hit a 1-2 pitch out to left center. Hamels got ahead of him 0-2, but Upton just crushed his 1-2 offering to make it 5-3. Hamels got the next two to set the Braves down.

Third homer of the game for Atlanta. Two to righties (Uggla and Justin Upton) and the other to the lefty Freeman.

Durbin started the sixth for the Phillies and walked the leadoff man Uggla on six pitches. Johnson was next and doubled into left on the first pitch of his at-bat, sending Uggla to third. It brought Laird to the plate with nobody out and men on second and third. He was swinging at the first pitch as well and blooped a single into left-center. Brown charged and mishandled the ball, but Revere was right there to pick it up and get it into the infield. Uggla scored on the play to make it 6-3 with one out and runners on the corners. Lefty Juan Francisco hit for the pitcher Luis Avilan and Horst came in to pitch to him. Righty Reed Johnson hit for Francisco and hit a ball back up the middle, off the edge of Horst’s glove to Rollins. Rollins went to second for the first out and Utley relayed to first for the second. As the throw went to first to complete the double-play, Johnson came home from third. Howard took the throw at first and threw home, but his throw was not handled and Johnson would have been safe anyway. 7-3. Simmons popped out to first to end the inning.

Much confusion about whether or not Manual made an error around bringing in Horst before the lefty Juan Francisco was announced as the pinch-hitter or not. Francisco was definitely in the on-deck circle when Horst came in, but announcers on the TV broadcast indicated the he had not been announced and therefore the righty Reed Johnson was hitting for the pitcher Avilan and not the left-handed pinch-hitter Francisco. The box score on the MLB.com web site shows that Francisco actually hit for Avilan. I don’t know. Either way, Horst faced the righty Reed Johnson and got him to hit into a double-play.

Not a good start for Durbin. He faces three batters in the game, allowing a walk, a single and a double without getting an out. Durbin pitched for the Braves last year, which makes it a little more interesting that both Johnson and Laird were swinging first pitch on their hits.

Nice job by Revere to be right on the ball and prevent Johnson from scoring when Brown mishandled the bloop by Laird. Didn’t wind up mattering as Johnson scored on the double-play, but it was a nice play.

Horst was back for the seventh. Freeman blooped a single to left with two outs, but Horst struck out BJ Upton to leave Freeman at first.

Freeman’s bloop was a little odd. It stayed in the air for a long, long time and Brown wasn’t close to getting there. Looked like he was playing really deep in left given the left-handedness of the hitter.

Horst goes two scoreless innings in the game, striking out two and allowing a bloop single on a ball that might have been handled.

Aumont pitched the eighth. He walked Johnson with one out. Laird was next and hit a ball hard to third. It probably would have been a double-play ball if Young had handled it cleanly. He didn’t, but picked it up and threw to first. The throw was in the dirt, but Howard did a nice job to scoop it for the second out as Johnson moved up to second. Switch-hitter Ramiro Pena hit for the pitcher Jordan Walden and grounded to first to end the inning.

Aumont goes one scoreless inning in the game, striking out one and allowing a walk. Last year he walked nine for the Phillies in 14 2/3 innings and walked 34 in 44 1/3 innings in the minors. That’s too many walks. The Phillies should have turned a double-play on the ball hit by Laird.

Overall the pen goes three innings in the game, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out three. Horst pitched great. Durbin did not. Aumont threw a scoreless innings but needs to walk fewer hitters. Horst threw 17 pitches, Aumont 14 and Durbin eight. All three seem likely to be available for game two of the set given the off-day today.

The Phillies lineup against righty Tim Hudson went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) M Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Kratz. Two of the nine players the Phillies start were also in the lineup for game one in 2012 (Rollins and Mayberry). Kratz starts behind the plate with Ruiz suspended. Brown in left with the righty Mayberry in right and the lefty Nix on the bench. Mayberry comes into the game with good numbers against Hudson — 4-for-13 with two home runs. Revere leads off against the righty with Rollins hitting second. One of the things that does is prevents three lefties two through four in the lineup from Revere to Howard (if Revere were hitting second). Revere and Michael Young make their Phillie debuts. Erik Kratz enters the game with zero career plate appearances in April and seven career plate appearances in March, April, May or June.

The Phillies went in order in the first.

They were down 2-0 when they hit in the top of the second. Young walked with one out and moved up to second when Brown followed with a single to right. It put two men on for Mayberry and Mayberry grounded into a double-play to set the Phillies down.

Mayberry hits into a lot of double-plays. So far, this year is no exception.

Revere singled to left with two outs in the second and the Phils down 3-0. He stole second before Rollins grounded to second to leave him stranded.

The Phillies were trailing 4-0 when Utley started the fourth with a home run to center. 4-1. Howard grounded out to Uggla in shallow right field for the first out and Young struck out swinging for the second before Brown drew a walk. Mayberry struck out looking to leave Brown at first.

With one out in the fifth, the Phillies loaded the bases for Utley on singles by Hamels and Rollins and a walk to Revere. Utley singled to right, scoring Hamels and Revere to cut the lead to 4-3 and taking second as the throw came in to third. It put men on second and third with one down for Howard and lefty Luis Avilan came in to pitch to him. Avilan quickly got ahead of Howard 0-2 and struck him out swinging for the second out. The righty Young was walked intentionally to load the bases for Brown. Brown grounded to second to leave them loaded.

Second big hit for Utley in two innings after the homer in the fourth. Howard comes up empty in a big spot, striking out with one out and men on second and third. Intentionally walking Michael Young so your lefty can pitch to Domonic Brown in the fifth inning is a poor idea, but it worked out well for the Braves in this case. I don’t think that’s in the best interest of your team in the long run, however.

The Phils trailed 5-3 when they hit in the sixth. Mayberry and Kratz went down for the first two outs. With the lefty Avilan still on the mound for the Braves, Frandsen hit for Hamels and singled into center. Revere grounded to short to end the frame.

Avilan pitched well in the game for Atlanta, holding the Phils to a single (by the righty Frandsen) and an intentional walk (to the righty Young) over 1 2/3 innings.

Atlanta led 7-3 when lefty Eric O’ Flaherty started the seventh for the Braves. Utley tripled with one out and scored on a Howard ground out, cutting the lead to 7-4. Young grounded to third to set the Phillies down.

Utley triples off of the lefty after homering off the righty Hudson earlier in the game.

Mayberry doubled to left off of righty Jordan Walden with one out in the eighth. He took third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Kratz single to cut the lead to 7-5. Nix hit for Horst and Kratz took second on another wild pitch before Nix flew to left for the second out. Revere struck out swinging to leave Kratz stranded.

Righty Craig Kimbrel set Rollins, Utley and Howard down in order in the ninth.

Revere was 1-for-4 in the game with a walk and a stolen base. Made a nice defensive play to be in the area when Brown mishandled the single in the sixth.

Rollins 1-for-5.

Utley 3-for-5 with a triple, a home run and three RBI.

Howard 0-for-5 with an RBI. Struck out with one out and men on second and third at a big moment in the fifth.

Young didn’t look good defensively at third. He was 0-for-2 and walked twice (once intentionally).

Brown 1-for-3 with a walk. Less than outstanding in left. Mishandled one ball while charging but was backed-up nicely by Revere. Queerly was nowhere close to catching Freeman’s bloop single in the seventh.

Mayberry 1-for-4 with a strikeout and grounded into a double-play. He hit 229/291/335 against right-handed pitching in 2012. So it’s not a good sign if you’re starting him in one of your corner outfield positions against a righty on Opening Day.

Kratz 1-for-4 with an RBI.

The Phillies don’t play today. Game two of the season and the series is tomorrow night.