Telemaco Lifts Bowa and Phils to Opening Day Win over Marlins, 6-5
What a way to start the season. For awhile, it looked like the same old story. Despite the off-season changes, it looked like the Phillies' bullpen was going to throw away another winnable game. But this time, it didn't, thanks to Amaury Telemaco.
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| Scott Rolen slides home with the Phillies' second run in the first inning. Marlins catcher Charles Johnson couldn't handle the throw. |
Telemaco lost and found Luis Castillo's comebacker and threw to Travis Lee to cap four scoreless innings of relief to give the Phillies a thrilling 6-5 opening day victory over the Florida Marlins.
"I just hope they're not all like this," said Larry Bowa, who used seven pitchers in a game that took four hours and six minutes to earn his first win as Phillies manager. "They just battled. It's a game where they very easily could have said, 'We're getting tired.' We took the lead, we gave it back, we took it, they tied it. But they just kept battling. They worked extremely hard. They executed, and I know they're extremely tired."
"It's a great day today for the whole team," Telemaco said. "I'm glad that [Bowa] had some confidence in me and I'm glad I had some contribution to the [victory]."
"Telly gave me the ball," Bowa said. "That's special. That means a lot to me."
"He said, 'Give me the ball,' " Telemaco said. "It was important to him."
"You can look around the clubhouse, and there are a lot of happy faces and a lot of smiles," Scott Rolen said. "Bowa is excited about getting his first win here."
It didn't take long for Bowa to leave the dugout. In the sixth inning, he argued with plate umpire John Shulock, who warned starter Omar Daal after he hit Cliff Floyd with a pitch.
"He was right there the whole game," Rolen said. "He was pacing and yelling every pitch. It was a high energy level. It was fun to watch."
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the first when Travis Lee hit a two-out grounder to Castillo at second. Marlins starter Ryan Dempster covered first but bobbled the one-hopper, and Glanville and Rolen scored. Lee was credited with a single, and Castillo was charged with an error.
The Phils went ahead 3-0 when Glanville homered with two outs in the third.
Daal threw three hitless innings before the Marlins broke through in the fourth on back-to-back homers by Eric Owens and Cliff Floyd.
The Phils got one back in the next inning when Bobby Abreu tripled and scored on a sac-fly by Rolen. But in the sixth, the bullpen took its first test of the season. Vicente Padilla relieved Daal and allowed a 2-run double to Mike Lowell that tied the game at 4. Padilla walked Derek Lee and Alex Gonzalez to load the bases before Ricky Bottalico got Kevin Millar on a flyout to deep center for the final out. Phew.
Rolen's third consecutive opening day homer gave the Phillies a 5-4 lead in the seventh.
"There's no reason for that," Rolen said. "It just happened."
The lead held up until the ninth, when Jose Mesa relieved Wayne Gomes. Mesa allowed a lead-off single to Gonzalez, who advanced to third on a sacrifice and a single. With one out, Mesa balked home Gonzalez to tie the game but struck out Preston Wilson to force extra innings.
"They picked me up, the whole team did their job. Too bad I didn't do mine," Mesa said.
Double plays killed the Phillies in the next two innings. Marlon Anderson grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the 10th, and Abreu hit into another with two on in the 11th.
In the bottom half of the 10th, Telemaco struck out the first two batters he faced before walking Lee. Mike Lieberthal gunned down Lee on a pitchout to end the inning.
The Marlins threatened in the 12th. After allowing a 2-out double to Preston Wilson, Telemaco intentionally walked Lowell before striking out Charles Johnson for the third out.
With one out in the 13th, Telemaco walked, hustled to third on a single by Tomas Perez, and scored the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice by Glanville.
"The last thing I was thinking was I was going to get a hit," Telemaco said. "I was just looking for a good pitch to drive. He didn't throw me anything good, so I took the walk."
Of course, the win couldn't come without one final adventure. With one on in the bottom of the 13th, Castillo grounded back to Telemaco, who couldn't find the ball which was sitting at his feet. Telemaco spun around before finally locating it and threw to first, where Lee made a nice catch on the foul side of the bag to end the game.
Daal, who lost 19 games last season, allowed four runs and three hits in five and a third innings.
"I had good stuff today," Daal said. "My location was good, [as was] my breaking ball and my changeup. For the first game, I thought I did a good job. A W is a W, that's what's most important."
Daal also praised a unit that didn't receive much last season -- the bullpen.
"They really did a great job today," he said. "They went eight innings and only gave up one run."
Hopefully, it's a sign of things to come.
Andy Schwartz
ComcastSportsNet.com
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