Late rally helps Phillies salvage Opening Day win

Well, that was a fun way to start the season. After it slept through the first 6 innings, the Phillies offense woke up just in time for some late heroics, knocking off the Astros, 5-4, on a John Mayberry walk-off single.

Brett Myers shut down his former team for most of the game, only allowing three hits and one earned run in the 7th inning. The Phillies offense looked as bad as many feared it would be early on, failing to work the count and barely threatening to score. Once the Astros turned to their closer Brandon Lyon, though, the offense ignited with a string of singles, culminating with Mayberry's game winning single to center.

Roy Halladay was his usual dominant self early in the game, mowing down Astros hitters with relative ease. He hit a few bumps here and there but only gave up 1 run in 6 innings of work.

Phillies fans who spent the last few weeks worrying about the offense likely cringed through the early innings in this one but were rewarded with a thrilling late victory. While it wasn't pretty, the Phils are certainly happy to start the season with a win. Oh, and some guy named Cliff Lee will look to make it two in a row tomorrow.
(AP PHOTO)