Phillies (0-1) vs. Red Sox (1-0)
7:05 p.m. on TCN
Well, Game 2 can't possibly be worse than the Phillies' opener, right?
About 50 hours after finishing off their worst opening day shutout defeat in franchise history, the Phillies can get the bad taste out of their mouths when Aaron Harang takes on Rick Porcello at Citizens Bank Park.
Here are some game notes to get you set:
Harang's debut
The 36-year-old Harang makes his first start for the Phils after allowing eight runs and 26 baserunners in 15 spring innings.
Harang says his back issues are behind him, and hopefully they are because this team needs innings somewhere.
Harang has been a workhorse throughout his career, pitching 200-plus innings four times and 170-plus innings seven times.
MLB
Last season, he was 12-12 with a 3.57 ERA for the Braves, but most impressively finished second in the National League (to Johnny Cueto) with 25 quality starts.
Harang used six different pitches last season: a four-seam fastball, sinker, slider and curveball, and on rare occasions a cutter and changeup. Nothing is harder than about 90 mph.
Like Jerome Williams and David Buchanan, Harang's success will be determined by his ability to keep his stuff low in the zone. He was able to spot his fastball extremely well early last season, piecing together a 0.85 ERA and .143 opponents' batting average through his first five starts.
Collectively, current Red Sox have hit .289 with a .508 slugging percentage against him.
Watch out for Hanley
Hanley Ramirez homered twice and drove in five runs in the opener, and if history is any indication he should be in for another monster game.
Ramirez is 10 for 29 (.345) in his career vs. Harang with five homers and a double. Yikes.
Ramirez has raked at Citizens Bank Park dating back to his time with the Marlins. In 57 career games here, he's hit .296/.357/.540 with 22 doubles and 11 home runs.
The $80 million man
It's been a nice week for Porcello. Before making his Red Sox debut, Boston signed him to a four-year, $82.5 million extension.
That $20 million annual average value caught many analysts off guard because Porcello has had just one above-average season. That was 2014, when he went 15-13 with a 3.43 ERA in 204 2/3 innings for the Tigers.
Prior to that, Porcello had a 4.51 career ERA in 152 games (149 starts).
But the Red Sox bought in to his most recent season and chose to pay a higher AAV to get Porcello for fewer years. He was due to hit free agency after the season, and if he had another strong year he could have found five or six years on the open market.
Porcello's repertoire has more bite than most sinkerballers'. His sinker averages 91 mph, and last season he began to rely on it less, becoming a true four-pitch pitcher with a sinker, fastball, changeup and curveball.
When the 6-foot-5 right-hander has that curve working, he can generate a lot of vertical movement. It was his best pitch in 2014 — he threw the hook 473 times and held the opposition to a .209 batting average and one home run.
The only Phillies who have seen Porcello more than a few times are Ben Revere and Grady Sizemore. Revere is 7 for 19 against him with a triple and, surprisingly, two walks. Sizemore is 3 for 18.
Speaking of Sizemore ...
#FreeDarinRuf
UPDATE 5 p.m.: Darin Ruf is in the starting lineup for Wednesday night's game.
I can see both sides of many of the Phillies' decisions, even the ones I disagree with. But I cannot, for the life of me, understand why Darin Ruf is on the bench with Domonic Brown on the DL.
This seems like a prime opportunity to put Ruf in left field, shift Revere back to center and put Odubel Herrera in right. I get it, the Phillies want Herrera to be their centerfielder, but they'll have a ton of opportunities over the course of a 162-game season to have him there.
Why not let Ruf sink or swim, even against right-handed pitching, with Brown out? The Phillies lineup we saw on opening day lacks plate discipline, power and speed. Ruf has power, and at various points in his professional career has shown a decent idea of the strike zone.
It just makes no sense. The Phillies should be opting for whatever upside they can find, not playing Sizemore simply because he bats from the left side.
Take a few pitches
An offense that lacks power and will need to string together hits must walk a little bit if it wants any chance of succeeding.
Carlos Ruiz walked twice on opening day, which was twice more than the rest of the team combined. The Red Sox worked seven walks.
Ryan Howard saw eight pitches in four at-bats. Sizemore saw seven pitches in three trips. Freddy Galvis saw 10 pitches in three at-bats.
The Phillies shouldn't be taking fastballs right down the middle, but they should be working counts better than they did in the spring, or in 2014, or in 2013, or this offense is never going to take off. Clay Buchholz peppered the strike zone against them Monday because there are few threats in this lineup. Porcello will attempt to do the same. A few extra-base hits can change that.