MORE OPENING DAY UPDATES

MILWAUKEE 8, ST. LOUIS 6
The Brewers win and are in a first-place tie with Pittsburgh and Chicago right now (wow that is fun to say). Ben Sheets didn't pitch well (continuing a trend that had started in spring training) allowing 3 runs in 3 1/3 IP. The bullpen did a good job with the exception of Ben Ford.

Luis Vizcaino looked particularly sharp today. His fastball was in the low-to-mid 90s and his slider left Tony Womack and Roger Cedeno looking absolutely foolish.

Ned Yost's decision to put Brady Clark into RF as a defensive replacement for Ben Grieve turned out to be a key move as Clark made a nice play saving an extra-base hit.

Tony Womack hitting leadoff for St. Louis? Are you kidding? his highest OBP in a full-season was .332 back in 1999. His career OBP is .315 and oh yeah, he's not getting any younger. He can still run a bit, but as the old saying goes, "you can't steal first base."

Dan Kolb goes 1-2-3 and gets the save. Nice to see after DeJean's miserable 2003.

Box Score



DETROIT 7, TORONTO 0
Jason Johnson threw 6 shutout innings and Al Levine, Jamie Walker and Esteban Yan closed it out as the Tigers are over .500 for the first time since April 8, 2001.

Ivan Rodriguez and Rondell White each hit homers in their Detroit debuts.

Former Brewer problem-child Alex Sanchez went 0-4. Also a huge surprise is that he didn't draw a walk. Valerio De Los Santos threw a scoreless inning for the Blue Jays and their ugly new uniforms. They look like they play for some team of robots in the year 2155.

Reining AL Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay got roughed up for seven runs, six earned in 6 2/3.

Box Score

SAN DIEGO 8, LOS ANGELES 2
Phil Nevin hit a grand slam and Jay Payton added a two-run shot in his San Diego debut.

I'm sure everybody is surprised to see that the Dodgers only managed two runs. Jim Tracy had Cesar Izturis (who I all ready mentioned had the lowest OBP of any qualifier in the NL last season) hitting second. You have to wonder about that. I suppose when you have both Cesar Izturis and Alex Cora in the same lineup your options are limited. Why not have Lo Duca hit second and move Encarnacion to fifth, Beltre to sixth and put Izturis seventh?

Shawn Green played first base for the Dodgers.

Darren Dreifort threw a scoreless inning for Los Angeles.

Box Score

KANSAS CITY 9, CHICAGO WHITE SOX 7
Ha ha. I still hold animosity for the White Sox dating back to the Brewers' days in the American League. KC threw up a six-spot in the bottom of the ninth, highlighted by a Mendy Lopez 3-run jack and a walk-off two-run shot by Carlos Beltran. Billy Koch allowed one run in 1/3 of an inning and Damaso Marte didn't record an out but allowed three runs on two homers. Yikes.

Box Score

CHICAGO CUBS 7, CINCINNATI 4
The only thing more surprising than Alex Sanchez not drawing a walk today was Ken Griffey Jr sitting out today's game because of an injured calf.

Alex Gonzalez booted a ball early in the game that was very similar to the ball he kicked against Florida in Game 6 of the NLCS.

The Cubs were up 4-0 early but Cincy battled back to make the game 5-4. The Cubs added two in the top of the 8th to expand the lead. Joe Borowski closed the game out for Chicago.

Box Score