Neris surrendered a three-run home run to Nick Markakis in the bottom of the ninth inning of Thursday's Opening Day loss to Atlanta.
The Phillies' bullpen took over for Aaron Nola during the sixth inning with a five-run lead, only to let the Braves chip away and eventually tie it up in the eighth before winning it with Markakis' three-run shot off Neris in the final frame. The Phillies have hinted at the possibility of using Neris in a flexible bullpen role this season, so it will be interesting to see how things unfold when the first few save chances arise in the weeks ahead, especially since he entered Thursday's game in the bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied at 5-5 in a high-leverage, but non-save, situation.