ARLINGTON, Texas — It started Thursday where it ended four months ago, plus or minus about 250 miles. However, the same condition. Also against a team from the American League West.
And the result?
Another letdown.
To be clear, on a scale from mildly disappointing to downright soul-wrecking, the Phillies’ 11-7 collapse against the Rangers on the 141st opening day in franchise history was hardly registered as a blip. Sure, it can linger a bit, especially with a day off on Friday. But soon it will slot into the 161 games that will follow.
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The flashbacks were triggered by both the how and the where. After former President George W. Bush brought the ball to the mound where Nolan Ryan was standing for a ceremonial first throw and a sold-out crowd of 38,387 stood up and chanted “Texas, Our Texas,” the Phillies took a 5-0 lead , spoiling indomitable ace Jacob deGrom’s Rangers debut.
And then their own top-of-the-rotation starter screwed it up.
Aaron Nola, the clock that may be ticking his time with the Phillies, continued to struggle to adjust to the new field clock. He mowed three innings through the Rangers’ order before they scored nine — count them, nine — runs in the fourth, five ahead of Nola.
If it sounded familiar, maybe it’s because the Phillies’ last trip to Texas, 145 days earlier in Houston, culminated in a win in a World Series they were leading by game three. But they have been outplayed by the Astros 12-3 in the last three contests, 4-1 in the deciding Game 6.
It was the ultimate case-from-a-head loss.
Alec Bohm hits a two-run home run in the second inning. … Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer
That loss highlighted a potential problem for Nola, who has been open all spring about the difficulty of pitching within 15 seconds with empty bases, and especially within 20 seconds with runners.
“Many pitches, got behind boys [Corey] Seager on base to start the inning, which kinda hurt,” Nola said, summing up the nightmarish inning. “Left a few balls over the plate. The transition was slightly higher. I have to go back and see it. They hit some good pitches, but those too [Robbie] Grossman was in midfield.”
The fourth inning was particularly troubling because Nola didn’t even allow a hit through the front three. But everything seemed to change when Seager hit a leadoff single into left field.
Nola has always been one of the slower working Phillies pitchers. He also tended to come out of the stretch even more consciously. Last season, he held hitters on a .199/.237/.306 slash line from the windup with empty bases versus .259/.294/.426 from the stretch with runners.
Did Nola start rushing when Seager got to base and Adolis Garcia went downstairs to golf a dirt-diving curveball to left field for a one-out single?
“I don’t know if it hurt him, but it probably didn’t help,” pitching coach Caleb Cotham said. “These are the eternal times where you are always told to lawfully slow down the game. You take your time. In that kind of inning, he’ll have more strategy next time. It’s the first time he’s really, really felt that.”
Cotham tried to slow things down for Nola by coming to the mound after Garcia’s single. But Nola went with Josh Jung, giving Jonah Heim a line-drive double. Grossman followed that up with a triple homer down to right field.
“You try to push down a little bit more [with runners on]Right?” Nola said. “You have to make really good pitches. I didn’t do that today.”
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Nola holds a certain position within the organization. Drafted in the first round in 2014, he is the longest-serving player on the active roster. He also made his sixth consecutive start on opening day, the third-biggest streak in club history behind Robin Roberts (12 in a row) and Steve Carlton (10), both Hall of Famers.
It’s rarefied air. And Nola was hoping to sign a contract extension with the Phillies but was unable to reach an agreement before the sides agreed on table talks last weekend. Now he could go free at the end of the season.
Trea Turner celebrates after scoring in the third inning. . … Read moreYong Kim / Associate Photographer
For now, though, Nola’s biggest concern will be finding a better rhythm with the pitch clock ticking. Like most pitchers, he was always taught to get off the mound when the game picked up speed. Under the new rules, pitchers are only allowed to leave the surface twice per at-bat.
“It’s about knowing how many pullbacks there are, what I’m doing to slow this down, how to use our visits appropriately and doing things within the rules that we can do,” Cotham said. “It’s a learning point.”
Certainly the Phillies believe they can put a “W” next to plays if they have a five-run lead and one of their aces on the mound.
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The Phillies hit six extra bases in 3⅔ innings against deGrom, who had never allowed more than five in 209 previous major league starts. They blitzed their former nemesis with the Mets. Alec Bohm hit a two-run homer on an elevated 99 mph fastball in the second inning. In the third, $300 million shortstop Trea Turner underscored his much-anticipated Phillies debut by following Brandon Marsh’s leadoff triple with a triple of his own.
But after Nola took the lead, Rangers went 6-5 on Nathaniel Lowe’s 35-foot squibber on the third baseline against reliever Gregory Soto and went on.
Phillies pitcher Connor Brogdon returns to the mound after giving up a two-run home run in the fifth inning. … Read moreYong Kim / Photographer
A promising start, a disappointing end.
Too familiar in Texas for the Phillies.
Nick Castellanos, who reached the World Series Finals, even batted with two runners on board on a full count pitch against Rangers closer to opening day Jose Leclerc.
Another reminder of how things ended.