Video review of the double play concluded. The umpires made their announcement. A sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park loudly booed the decision as Atlanta’s fielders jogged to the dugout.
But Johan Rojas was still standing on first base in his batting helmet.
Rojas had just grounded into what looked like a 6-4-3 double play to end the seventh inning. Replays showed that he beat the throw to first, but there was some confusion when crew chief Mark Wegner tried to communicate the decision.
Wegner started by saying that the out call at second base was confirmed. Hearing only “confirmed,” 42,515 frustrated Phillies fans let the ump have it before hearing him say the call at first was overturned. Picking up on the crowd’s reaction, the Braves thought the inning was over.
After the confusion cleared and the Braves returned to the field, Kyle Schwarber dug in at the plate. The Phillies were losing, 3-2, and the Braves were poised to complete a three-game sweep to start the season.
But Schwarber ripped the first pitch he saw from LHP Aaron Bummer to center for a 112.4 mph single, and Trea Turner followed up with a single of his own. Rojas turned on the jets again and scored from second on Turner’s hit.
After Turner stole second base without a throw, Alec Bohm lined a ball to short left field. Braves outfielder Adam Duvall got to the ball in time but couldn’t hang on for the catch. Schwarber and Turner scored, giving the Phillies a 5-3 lead.
The relentless Braves lineup scored a run off of Seranthony Dominguez in the eighth, but Gregory Soto and Jose Alvarado secured the last four outs, giving the Phils their first win of the season.
It may not have happened without Rojas’ speed and hustle.
“Rojas beating the ball out was the biggest part of the game really,” said manager Rob Thomson afterwards. “I mean, we pitched well and all that. But to keep that inning alive was really, really good.”
The game didn’t start well for the Fightins. For the second consecutive day, Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies hit a two-run home run in the first inning. The victim this time was Phillies starter Ranger Suarez. (Suarez settled in nicely after the homer, striking out seven and walking one over five innings.)
Kyle Schwarber countered Albies with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first–the 32nd leadoff home run of his career–but the Braves scored again in the fourth.
In the fifth, after the Phillies loaded the bases with no outs against Braves’ starter Chris Sale, Schwarber grounded into a double play. A run scored, but hope for a big rally was gone. Turner struck out to end the inning.
Luckily Turner redeemed himself in the pivotal seventh.
“Getting down 2-0 in the first inning again, it can be demoralizing. But our guys just battled and kept fighting and got it done,” said Thomson.
Anxious for a win, Phillies fans gave the manager grief over Sunday’s lineup, which featured the right-handed Edmundo Sosa, Cristian Pache, and Whit Merrifield over lefties Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, and Bryce Harper. But Thomson said after the game that he wanted to get more players involved early in the season, and “take care of guys” by giving them rest early on.
Harper was one day removed from taking a hard fall into a camera well, but Thomson said the superstar was scheduled for a day off on Sunday even before his tumble. Harper was sore and unavailable to pinch-hit on Sunday, but he is expected to rejoin the lineup on Monday.
The Phillies will take on the Reds in Philadelphia at 6:40 p.m.
