The Philadelphia Phillies notched their first win of the season with a 7-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Opening Day.

It was a historic performance for Philadelphia, but for all of the wrong reasons. The Phillies were far less impressive than the final score may indicate: In fact, no team in baseball history has hit so poorly in their opener and still managed to win the game.

Philadelphia’s hitters struggled to make much of any contact against Nationals ace Mackenzie Gore, who set a franchise record for most strikeouts in a game. The Phillies sent the minimum of 18 batters to the plate over six innings, and Gore sent 13 of them back to the dugout without any success. Only two balls left the infield, and no runner made it to second base. Phillies left fielder Kyle Schwarber, the club’s only baserunner during those six innings, was quickly caught stealing after making it to first base in the second inning.

It was a disturbing way to start the 2025 season, especially considering how Philly’s 2024 campaign ended. But if you think a performance like that would be cause for some reflection, well, think again.

Alec Bohm credits the shadows for Phillies poor batting on Opening Day

Gore finished with an Opening Day line of 13 strikeouts, no walks and no runs allowed. Yet, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm didn’t want to give the Nationals’ pitcher any credit for Philadelphia’s struggles. Instead, he opted to blame the shadows.

“You can’t see the ball, that’s why we struck out 30 times,” Bohm said, per Phillies reporter Luke Arcaini. “We should probably stop playing at [4 pm] so there’s a good product for people that come to the stadium.”

Perhaps the location of the sun played a role on Opening Day, but Philadelphia hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt. The Phillies are no strangers to poor batting performances on Opening Day, and they’ve become known for whiffing as well.

Last season, the Phillies set a franchise record for most Opening Day strikeouts with 15 strikeouts. They shattered that mark in their 2025 opener with 19 combined strikeouts, tying an all-time franchise record that was set during a 7-0 loss against the New York Mets in 1991, per The Inquirer.

Philadelphia only found success after the Nationals replaced Gore in the seventh inning. Phillies star Bruce Harper hit a home run almost immediately after the Nationals sent in relieverLucas Sims; shortly after, Schwarber followed up with a home run against Nationals pitcher Jose A. Ferrer.

Still, the game went into extra innings before the Phillies pulled away. Bohm delivered a two-run double to take the lead after Nationals manager Davey Martinez summoned lefty Colin Poche in the 10th inning. J.T. Realmuto struck out on his first four at-bats — another opening-day franchise record — but found redemption when he tripled two runs to seal the game.