Phillies 14, Rangers 10: Jimmy Rollins belted a grand slam while Cody Asche went 3-for-4 with a home run and scored four times as visiting Philadelphia downed Texas on Opening Day.
Rollins’ only hit allowed him to become the 19th player in major-league history to record at least 400 doubles, 100 triples and 200 homers in his career. Marlon Byrd also went deep while Ben Revere finished with three hits and three RBIs as the Phillies mustered 17 hits to support Cliff Lee (1-0), who got the decision despite surrendering a career high-tying eight runs and 11 hits over five frames.
Alex Rios had three hits – including a three-run homer – and scored three times for the Rangers, who gave up more runs than they ever have on Opening Day. Pedro Figueroa (0-1) took over for ineffective starter Tanner Scheppers in the fifth inning and was tagged for four runs (three earned) in 1 2/3 frames.
Philadelphia staked Lee to a six-run lead in the second when Asche and Revere each drove in a run in front of Rollins, who drove a 1-0 fastball from Scheppers into the right-field stands for his fourth career grand slam. Leonys Martin’s RBI single preceded Josh Wilson’s three-run double in the bottom half to rally the Rangers within 6-4, and Rios gave Texas its first lead in the third when he lifted Lee’s 1-0 cutter just over the fence in left-center.
Chase Utley evened it at seven in the fourth with a ground-ball RBI single past a diving Wilson at second base and John Mayberry Jr. added a two-run double off Figueroa in the fifth to put the Phillies back in front for good. The Phillies extended their advantage with a four-run sixth, highlighted by a solo shot from Byrd and two-run single from Revere, and Asche capped the scoring with a solo home run in the eighth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Rollins made his 14th straight Opening Day start, matching Hall of Famer Cal Ripken's major-league record (Baltimore Orioles, 1983-96) for the most consecutive seasons starting at shortstop for the same franchise. … Scheppers, who gave up seven runs and eight hits in four innings, joined Fernando Valenzuela (1981) as the only pitchers in the past 70 seasons to make their first career major-league start on Opening Day. … The last time opposing starters each allowed at least seven earned runs on Opening Day was April 5, 1974, when Luis Tiant (Boston Red Sox) and Jim Colborn (Milwaukee Brewers) each were roughed up.
Philadelphia | Texas | |
Cliff Lee | Player | Tanner Scheppers |
Win | W/L | No Decision |
5.0 | IP | 4.0 |
1 | Strikeouts | 2 |
11 | Hits | 8 |
14.40 | ERA | 15.75 |
Philadelphia | Texas | |
Cody Asche | Player | Alex Rios |
3 | Hits | 3 |
2 | RBI | 3 |
1 | HR | 1 |
7 | TB | 6 |
.750 | Avg | .600 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Philadelphia | 17 | 3 | 29 | .386 | 20 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
Texas | 14 | 1 | 20 | .350 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 |