PHILADELPHIA — This city loves Jimmy Rollins. There were several anecdotes from today I could hold up as evidence: the two dozen reporters gathered by his locker from the time he arrived at the ballpark; the hundreds who lined up around the dugout for autographs; the thousands who cheered when Rollins ran out to the field to take ground balls during batting practice. This newspaper page or this standing ovation before the game’s first at-bat:
The brotherly love for Rollins came through today in a very real way. So did Maikel Franco, and his grand slam against Joel Peralta was the difference in the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the Phillies. The box score is here.
Before the game, the Dodgers announced that Walker Buehler would undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday.
Alex Wood threw this pitch that was ruled a balk. Fair or not, I think it will be the lasting image of his debut: