Cliff Lee had to wait until July 4, 2012 to pick up his first elusive victory of the 2012 season. This year Lee had to wait under three hours. The Phillies starter was impressive in his first outing of the 2013 season and made sure the team left Atlanta on a positive note after dropping the first two games of the season. Lee pitched eight shutout innings and Jonathan Papelbon picked up the save as the Phillies avoided a three-game sweep with a 2-0 victory.

The Phillies even gave Lee an early lead to work with by scoring both of their runs in the second inning. Atlanta had not lost a game started by Kris Medlen in 26 games dating back to last season, but the Phillies offense made Medlen work in the second inning. The bottom of the line-up fueled the charge with Laynce Nix and Erik Kratz each reaching base and Lee drawing a walk to load the bases. Ben Revere grounded in to what should have been a double play but Braves second baseman Dan Uggla was unable to make a throw to first base with Lee sliding in to second. Nix scored on the play and Kratz would score on a sacrifice fly by Chase Utley for the 2-0 lead.

Game over for Atlanta.

One of the key members of the 1993 Phillies, Mitch Williams, is on Twitter. Give him a follow.

Big Donkey @ryanhoward I'm on twitter now. Shout back at me because I don't know what I'm doing.

— Mitch Williams (@WildThingMLBN) April 4, 2013

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For the second game in a row to start the year the Phillies were down two runs after one inning and unable to dig out from an early hole. Roy Halladay allowed two home runs and failed to pitch past the fourth inning as the Phillies lost to the Braves 9-2 on a rainy evening.

Halladay struck out nine batters but struggled all night, allowing five runs (all earned) on six hits and walking three batters on 95 pitches in 3,1 innings pitched. Halladay looked visibly frustrated when leaving the mound last night, and after the game he apparently was still upset with his performance.

As quoted by Todd Zolecki for MLB.com:

"I'm frustrated. I should have gotten deeper than that. Not aggressive enough early in the count and went deep counts, and that's the most frustrating part, really. I'm going to clean that up and be more aggressive. I've got to be more aggressive getting ahead of guys and putting guys away. I can't take three or four pitches to put guys away. We can take ground balls earlier in the count and do something to be more efficient and go deeper. I'd rather get beat 20-0 and pitch eight innings than pitch 3 1/3. So that's got to change. But I felt good, felt good in the bullpen and felt good on the mound."

Halladay struggled all spring and was hit around often throughout the 2012 season. Is there something physically wrong with Halladay or he is just on the decline of his illustrious career? Honestly, I do not know for sure but I lean towards believing he is indeed  just not the same pitcher he was when he arrived in Philadelphia. That said, I still believe he can have the ability to be a dependable pitcher this season, but something absolutely needs to change. What that is though is beyond me.

Despite a smashing Opening Day against the San Diego Padres, the New York Mets are still struggling to get fans to come out to the ballpark up north. This weekend the Mets will be giving away free tickets to fans just for following the team and TV partner SNY on Twitter. That's right, you can get a free ticket to a Mets-Marlins game this weekend for any of the three Mets home games.

To this day one of my favorite comedy routines is Abbot and Costello's Who's on First bit. I have watched it many times since first seeing it on a VHS tape in elementary school and to this day I personally cannot help but crack a smile any time I watch it. This year marks the 75th anniversary of one of comedy's timeless classics, and stars of Major League Baseball and ESPN are honoring it with their own twist.

Our own favorite duo of Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, who previously offered their take on Take Me Out to the Ballgame to honor that baseball theme song's anniversary last year (by the way, how about Jonathan Papelbon with the intro), chipped in by trying to re-enact the sketch while down in Florida for spring training.

"I get to about 30 seconds and then I start to get confused myself," Rollins says in a short video clip shared by ESPN (shown below). I don't blame him. Not only is this a funny skit, but it is especially tricky for anyone who attempts to perform it, as Rollins and a number of other major leaguers show.

You can watch the original bit on YouTube.

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W: Avilan (1-0, 0.00 ERA) L: Hamels (0-1, 9.00 ERA) SV: Kimbrel (1)

Chase Utley hit his 200th career home run and was a double shy of baseball's first Opening Day cycle since 1950, but his impressive 2013 debut was not enough to get the Phillies started on the right foot in Atlanta. Cole Hamels allowed three home runs in a 7-5 Opening Day loss to the Braves.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman launched a two-run home run in to right field with two outs in the first inning to give the Braves a quick 2-0 lead. Dan Uggla led off the second inning with a massive shot to left field and Freeman again struck with two outs in the third inning with an RBI single. Justin Upton later added a solo home run in his Braves debut in the fifth inning, after the Phillies had cut the Braves lead to 4-3. For Hamels, getting out of an inning and the critical shutdown innings were a struggle in the ace's 2013 season debut. Hamels said after the game that he was unable to establish his fastball.

"You have to be able to establish the fastball down in the zone, and I wasn't able to do that as much as I'd like," Hamels said in postgame interviews (MLB.com). "Most of the pitches that were hit out were fastballs up in the zone. I want to claim that's uncharacteristic, but there are times when you have to be able to make the adjustment and I wasn't able to make the adjustment fast enough."

I'm not worried about Hamels. You should not be either. Not after one game of course.

With Carlos Ruiz started to serve his 25-game suspension to start the 2013 season, it seems as though back-up catcher Erik Kratz is already starting to enjoy the extra face time behind the plate for the Phillies. Kratz will be the Phillies top catcher for the start of the season until Ruiz comes back, and now he is starring in his own advertising campaign for bacon.

Godshall's Quality Meats has already thrown Kratz in to the mix as the latest Phillies player to pick up some sort of food product. Kratz stars in two different commercials, one with an umpire questioning the eating habits of the big league catcher. The other commercial is with a cartoon turkey dressed as pig, a disguise Kratz has no problem seeing right through.

With the new season upon us, it is time to take a look at some career and franchise milestones that may be within reach for some key players this season. As you probably already know, Jimmy Rollins has a chance to reallt etch his name in franchise history this season.

All-Time Hits, currently held by Mike Schmidt (2,234 hits)

Jimmy Rollins will open the 2013 season with a career total of 2,024 hits, all of which have come with the Phillies of course. That places Rollins fourth on the franchise's all-time list and 210 hits behind Mike Schmidt's franchise record (2,234 hits). Of course, Rollins has had just one season with over 200 hits. In 2007 Rollins had a career high 212 hits in his MVP season. If Rollins puts up that kind of number again and is able to tie or break the Phillies franchise hit record, then we should be in store for a great 2013. In all likelihood, this mark will have to wait for 2014. Rollins could have an outside chance of moving in to third on the franchise hits list though, needing 189 hits to tie Ed Delanaty for third.

1. 2,234 - Mike Schmidt
2. 2,217 - Richie Ashburn
3. 2,213 - Ed Delahanty
4. 2,024 - Jimmy Rollins

All-Time Doubles, currently held by Ed Delahanty (442 doubles)

Rollins could very well pass Delanhanty on another franchise list this season. Rollins will start the season with 421 career doubles, placing him second on the Phillies all-time list behind Delahanty. Rollins needs 21 doubles to tie the franchise record. Rollins has had at least 29 doubles in a season all but one year of his career. Rollins had 33 doubles last season.

1. 442 - Ed Delahanty
2. 421 - Jimmy Rollins

Chase Utley (273) is ninth on the franchise doubles list. He could become the eighth player to hit at least 300 doubles as a member of the Phillies with 27 doubles this season. If he stays healthey, that is a realistc number to reach for Utley.

Opening Day at Veterans Stadium, 1971. Photo credit: Phillies.com

It is here. It is finally here. Today is baseball's Opening Day.

All but two teams will begin their long, hopefully journey through October today, meaning the slate is now officially clean for everybody. The Phillies begin this season looking to return to the postseason after seeing their five-year postseason streak snapped in 2012. The five-time defending NL East champions were dethroned by the Washington Nationals and the wild card entrant Atlanta Braves. This season the Phillies are widely expected to be the third team in the running again as the Nationals continue to build around a promising nucleus and the Braves made some nice off-season roster moves.

Will 2013 be a year that sees the Phillies continue to fall back as key players grow another year older, or is there enough in the tank to make a run back to the top of the division to play some October baseball? 

As the season opens up today I have a sense the Phillies will be good enough, if healthy, to at least stay in the running from start to finish but I am far from convinced this is a team that should be a favorite for a playoff spot. That said, on Opening Day I tend to be as optimistic as anyone and can spend a few moments envisioning all of the positives that could happen this season.

Vance Worley wasted little time in becoming a sort of fan favorite among Phillies fans in his brief stint in Philadelphia. The Vanimal was traded to the Minnesota Twins in December along with prospect Trevor May in exchange for Ben Revere, who will take over the starting job in center field for the Phillies. Now it appears that Worley will also be getting an Opening Day start with his new team...

OFFICIAL: Gardy names Vance Worley (@vanimal_49) the #MNTwins Opening Day starter! Just 5 days until the action starts at Target Field!

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) March 27, 2013

Worley will be projected to start the season against one of the best pitchers in the game today, Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers. He also just seems to be excited about getting a chance to play an important role in front of a new fanbase.

Hey @twins fans see you April 1 at Target Field. Excited to take the ball. Thanks for all the support!

— Vance Worley (@VANIMAL_49) March 27, 2013

Congratulations to Worley on getting that honor immediately after arriving in Minnesota.