Homecoming rude for Phillies

The Atlanta Braves ruined the Phillies' homecoming, defeating the World Series champs, 4-1, in front of a packed house. Several hours before Brett Myers delivered the first pitch of the new season, Charlie Manuel talked about the righthander's evolution as a pitcher.

"I think he's learning to use all of his pitches and have command of them," Manuel said.

The Phillies' manager went on to say that in the past, Myers could get into trouble when he fell into patterns with his pitches. Depending on the game, he would fall in love with a certain pitch, and that's never a good thing when one of the basics of good pitching is to keep 'em guessing.

"I think the hitters are very intelligent, and if they're smart at all, they'll sit on some of those and they can hit it when they look for it,'' Manuel said.

Much to the Phillies' chagrin, that remark proved rather prescient last night.

This was the third straight time that Myers had been called upon to open the season for the Phils. In past seasons, he'd been given the honor outright. This year, he inherited it when Cole Hamels needed some extra time after coming down with a sore elbow in spring training.

The Phillies lost each of the last two openers that Myers started and went on to make the postseason, so don't panic. This was just one game and one loss.

But that was little consolation to Myers last night. He threw 97 pitches and would like to have a few back.