Philadelphia Phillies teammates Andrew McCutchen, left, and Bryce Harper celebrate after McCutchen’s home run off Atlanta Braves starter Julio Teheran during the first inning of Thursday’s game in Philadelphia. The Phillies won the opening-day matchup 10-4.PHILADELPHIA – Bryce Harper had already struck out twice in his opening-day debut with the Philadelphia Phillies when he was set to dig his gaudy green Phanatic spikes in at the plate in the seventh inning.
With two runners on base and no outs, Harper never got the chance to swing the bat with “ill” – as in, part of the Phillies – stamped on the knob. He was intentionally walked to bring up Rhys Hoksins, who quickly flexed the power that proved just how dangerous this team can be.
“It’s scary, right? Scary good,” Hoskins said.
Harper went 0-for-3 with an intentional walk and failed to deliver a big hit, but the Phillies picked up the scoring slack without trouble as Hoskins, set up by Harper, hit a grand slam in a 10-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
“What a fan base, what a crowd we had today,” Harper said. “If we can keep that for 162 (games), it would be sweet.”
Harper had the city electric in anticipation for his first game in Philly since he signed a $330 million, 13-year deal that was briefly the richest in baseball. He bowed to thousands of fans in No. 3 jerseys who gave him rousing standing ovations and chucked a ball into the third deck for a souvenir.
He never launched one there with his bat, but Harper’s presence in the lineup helped blow the game open when the Braves walked the lefty slugger to load the bases. Hoskins, once the face of the franchise, followed with the grand slam off reliever Luke Jackson.
Citizens Bank Park was packed with nearly 45,000 fans dressed like their new favorite player and ready to go wild hours before the first pitch. Harper fist-bumped fans as the Phillies walked through the outfield stands and onto the red carpet on the field for opening-day festivities. He got his first standing ovation when he jogged out for the lineup introduction – his green cleats visible from the last row of the upper deck – and received another when he dug in for his first at-bat in the first inning.
“It was pretty unbelievable to be a part of it,” said Harper, who grounded out in the first, then struck out in the fourth and the fifth against Teheran.
The other former National League MVP the Phillies picked up in the offseason delivered instantly. Andrew McCutchen , who signed a $50 million, three-year deal, led off the bottom of the first with a homer to left field off Braves starter Julio Teheran (0-1).
“They’ve added great pieces,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Maikel Franco hit a three-run homer to left in the sixth inning to stretch Philadelphia’s lead to 6-1 against the 2018 NL East champions.
Aaron Nola (1-0) was uncharacteristically wild, walking five in six innings – one more than any start in 2018, when he was third in Cy Young Award voting.
“When he got the lead, he was a different animal,” Snitker said. “It’s like all great pitchers are.”
Atlanta’s Matt Joyce hit the seventh pinch-hit home run of his MLB career, a two-run shot in the seventh, and Nick Markakis and Ronald Acuna Jr. each had an RBI single for the Braves.