Game 106: The brotherly love comes through, and so does Maikel Franco.

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:

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About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.