Phillies Open Season With a Win

Phillies beat the Nationals 11-1

President Barack Obama was high and wide. Roy Halladay was right on target -- as always. The Phillies backed their new ace with plenty of power, too.

Placido Polanco hit a grand slam, Ryan Howard also homered, and Halladay struck out nine over seven innings in his National League debut as the Phillies opened the season Monday afternoon with an 11-1 rout of the Washington Nationals.

The centerpiece of the Phillies' drive for a third straight World Series appearance, Halladay (1-0) allowed one run and six hits and settled down to dominate after the Nationals scored in the first. Ivan Rodriguez doubled to lead off the second, but Halladay then faced the minimum number of batters  -- with help from a pair of double plays -- until the seventh, when he worked out of a two-on,
one-out jam.

Making his eighth consecutive opening day start, Halladay even helped himself at the plate with his second career RBI, albeit on a dribbler that traveled all of about 30 feet in Philadelphia's five-run fourth inning. He had plenty of support from a sellout crowd that was as much pro-Phillies as pro-Nationals.

John Lannan (0-1), the Nationals' opening day starter for the second year in a row, lasted only 3 2-3 innings, allowing five runs and seven hits with three walks and no strikeouts. He was done in by a morale-sapping fourth inning, when eight of the 10 battered he
faced reached base.

The big hit was Howard's homer, which reached the first row of the middle deck and was followed by singles from Jason Werth, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino. After a flyout, Halladay come through with the dribbler that Lannan scooped and unsuccessfully shoveled toward the plate in an attempt to keep Ibanez from scoring.

Polanco's second career slam came in the seventh off Jason Bergmann. Polanco went 3 for 5 and had a career-high six RBIs.

Today's win broke the Phillies streak of four consecutive opening day losses.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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