The Phillies were true to themselves on opening day, slugging their way to a win in a game where they also struggled defensively and almost gave up a big lead.
They won because the bats didn't go to sleep after building a five-run lead through six innings. When the A's scored four to make things interesting, the Phillies responded with one in the seventh and two in the eighth to put the game away. That's what good offenses do.
Everyone in the Phillies' lineup had at least one hit on opening day except Matt Vierling, who had a decent day himself, lining out sharply and hitting a deep sacrifice fly to the warning track.
Let's have a look at Game 2, which is at 4:05 p.m. Saturday on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.
First dibs
There's just something about that leadoff spot for Kyle Schwarber, who opened his Phillies career Friday with a solo home run to begin the bottom of the first.
Since the start of last season, Schwarber has 18 home runs in 122 plate appearances out of the leadoff spot, where he is hitting .305 with a .393 on-base percentage.
MLB
The Phillies received league-worst production out of their leadoff men last season -- a .236 batting average (29th in MLB) and .302 OBP (last).
In a lesser lineup, Schwarber might have been needed to hit in the middle of the order. That was yet another benefit of the Nick Castellanos signing.
Schwarber reached base three times and homered, something a Phillies leadoff hitter did just four times all of last season.
Gibson goes in Game 2
Kyle Gibson starts Game 2 for the Phillies opposite former Phillies left-hander Cole Irvin. Irvin made all 32 starts last season and went 10-15 with a 4.24 ERA.
Gibson appeared in 12 games with the Phillies after last year's trade deadline, starting 11. In 69 innings, he had a 5.09 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with a slightly higher rate of strikeouts and lower rate of walks than his career marks.
With the Rangers prior to the deadline, Gibson had a 2.87 ERA in 19 starts. It was the best he's pitched his entire nine-year career. He pitched well in five of his first six starts as a Phillie -- 3.16 ERA, more than six innings per start -- but like several of his teammates struggled in September, going 0-4 and allowing 27 runs in 32 innings.
Getting a sub-3.00 ERA from Gibson was not realistic given his track record as a No. 4 starter, but his ability to eat innings will be useful for this club. Gibson has made at least 29 starts in six of the last seven full major-league seasons.
Gibson went 5⅔ innings and threw 72 pitches in his final spring start Monday, putting him in line to throw up to 85 to 90 in his season debut.
He has plenty of experience against A's players given the first eight-plus seasons of his career came in the American League. Current A's have hit .256 off of him with a .295 OBP. Elvis Andrus (5 for 20, HR) has seen him the most.
First look at the 'pen
Seranthony Dominguez was a savior for the Phils in their opener, pitching a 1-2-3 eighth inning after both Jeurys Familia and Brad Hand were used in a high-stress seventh.
Dominguez, limited by an elbow injury to one big-league appearance the last two seasons in Game 162 a year ago, averaged 96.2 mph with his fastball and touched 97.
He's a huge X-factor in a Phillies bullpen built around the back-end of Corey Knebel, Hand and Familia, who are all on one-year deals.
Fast starts
The Phillies have had success in their first series the last four seasons, going 8-2.
The A's, with a payroll of less than $50 million and no real power threat in the lineup, could provide a smooth runway this weekend.
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