Recapping American Opening Day

The 2008 season may have gotten under way last week, but Monday was Opening Day. There was a flurry of games, some delayed; some not even played at all. There were players making returns to their former stomping grounds, some making debuts for new teams, and there were plenty of story lines. Here's a look at a handful of these headlines.

ATL @ WSH

While Monday was considered Opening Day for Major League Baseball, Sunday was actually the first regular season game played in America. The game saw the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals face off in the first game at new Nationals Park.

In what was a highly anticipated event, this Opening Day match up featured Tim Hudson getting the start for the Braves, against Nationals' newcomer Odalis Perez. Both starters were impressive to start the season. Perez limited the Braves to just four hits and one run (a Chipper Jones home run) over five innings. Hudson, meanwhile, was even better. He allowed three hits and two runs over seven innings of work, while striking out three and walking none. All of the hitting and scoring off Hudson came in the very first inning. After that, Hudson was perfect for the rest of his game.

The result of this game was in the hands of the bullpen, as the Nationals were ahead 2-1 going into the ninth inning. With Nationals' closer Chad Cordero suffering from shoulder woes, big Jon Rauch was called upon to try and shut the door. But he was unsuccessful in his attempt. With two outs, Martin Prado scored on a passed ball by Nats' new catcher Paul LoDuca. That tied the game up at two, and it looked like the teams were heading to extra innings.

But not so fast. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, future MVP candidate Ryan Zimmerman launched a rocket of a home run over the left-center field wall for a game winning, walk-off home run. The homer came off Braves' right-hander Peter Moylan. According to MLB.com, it was the fourth time Zimmerman ended a game with a home run.

"I've been lucky to be in this situation," Zimmerman told MLB.com. "That's half of the battle right there. You can't do it if you are not in that situation. It's a mind set - you have to stay calm. I haven't done it every time, but I want to be up there."

FINAL SCORE:
ATL (0-1) 2, WSH (1-0) 3

W: Rauch (1-0) L: Moylan (0-1)
HR: ATL - Jones (1, 4th inning off Perez, 0 on, 1 out) WSH- Zimmerman (1, 9th inning off Moylan, 0 on, 2 out)

NYM @ FLA

This game, which I attended, was a terrific baseball game. Johan Santana made his Mets debut and was all the Mets were expecting when they dealt for him during the offseason. In seven innings, the talented lefty allowed two runs (on a home run by Josh Willingham) on three hits while walking two and striking out eight. He logged 100 pitches and was sharp from pitch number one - he was perfect through three innings.

Meanwhile, the Mets offense provided more than enough support for Santana, as they won the game by a score of 7-2. David Wright, Carlos Beltran each had a pair of doubles and Angel Pagan added a two-bagger of his own. The six foot, nine inch Mark Hendrickson made his debut for the Marlins, and did not look good at all. The southpaw gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings of work. All-in-all, Santana was the absolute highlight of the game and should provide the Mets with much needed rotation stability for years to come.

FINAL SCORE:
Mets (1-0) 7, Marlins (0-1) 2

W: Santana (1-0) L: Hendrickson (0-1)
HR: FLA - Willingham (1, 4th inning off Santana, 1 on, 2 0ut)

MIL @ CHC

This game started out as the best of the day, as the teams' aces squared off against each other. For the Brewers, Ben Sheets took the hill, and was opposed by Big Z, Carlos Zambrano. The game remained scoreless until the top of the ninth inning - that's how great this game was.

The game was delayed over 40-minutes due to rain, and then was stopped for about 50 minutes when the rains decided to come again in the third. But that didn't stop these two teams from putting on one heck of a ballgame. Sheets and Zambrano were on top of their game, neither pitcher allowing a single run.

Zambrano left the game after 6 2/3 innings with cramps in his forearm - but nothing to worry about here, as the cramps were a result of some slight dehydration. Big Z will be fine. He finished the game with five strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed. As for Sheets, well he was just as dominant. In 6 1/3 innings, he struck out seven, walked two and allowed two hits.

As for the game, the Brewers got the scoring started in the top of the ninth, when they got three runs off Cubs' new closer Kerry Wood. Ryan Braun and Corey Hart drove in the three runs, which made Cub fans nervous about Wood's ability to close out games. But the game wasn't ready to end just then. New Brewers' closer Eric Gagne had just as much luck as Wood did in the bottom half. After allowing Derrek Lee (walk) and Aramis Ramirez (single) to reach to begin the inning, Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome drove everybody home with his first major league home run - a three-run bomb to tie the game (again). The homer was part of a 3-3 day for Fukudome, an impressive debut indeed.

But it wasn't enough, as the Brewers came right back in the top of the 10th to regain the lead, and hold onto it. Tony Gwynn Jr. drove in Craig Counsell, who doubled doubled to lead off the inning, with a sacrifice fly off right-hander Bob Howry. Newcomer David Riske came in the bottom of the 10th, and retired the Cubs in order to record his first save of the year.

FINAL SCORE:
MIL (1-0) 4, CHC (0-1) 3

W: Gagne (1-0) L: Howry (0-1) S: Riske (1)
HR: CHC - Fukudome (1, 9th inning off Gagne, 2 on, 0 out)

KC @ DET

The Tigers opened 2008 with quite possibly the highest expectations of any team in baseball - even the reigning World Champion Boston Red Sox. With a lineup that includes Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield and Edgar Renteria, the Tigers are expected to finish first in the division, and make it to the World Series for the second time in three seasons.

But in order to that, the Tigers have to win ballgames, and they failed to that on Opening Day. The Tigers met the young and lovable Royals in game one, and the pitching match up was quite intriguing - Justin Verlander got the nod for the Tigers, as he squared off against Gil Meche. Both pitched fairly well, each going six innings and keeping their clubs in the game. The Tigers actually got off to a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning, with Cabrera notching his first homer in a Tiger uniform. But the Royals scored two in the sixth and seventh innings to take a 4-3 lead, thanks in part to a two-run homer by third baseman Alex Gordon in the sixth.

Tigers' first baseman Carlos Guillen, however, did not let the Royals enjoy a lead for very long, as he smacked a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at four. It would stay that way into the 11th inning, when light-hitting Tony Pena blooped a single, scoring catcher John Buck to give the Royals the winning run. Joakim Soria came on to close the game, allowing one hit and striking out one. So in a nutshell, the team with the highest expectations lost to the team with almost no expectations.

FINAL SCORE:
KC (1-0) 5, DET (0-1) 4

W: Nunez (1-0) L: Bautista (0-1) S: Soria (1)
HR: KC - Gordon (1, 6th inning off Verlander, 1 on, 1 out) DET - Cabrera (1, 5th inning off Meche, 0 on, 0 out), Guillen (1, 8th inning off Tomko, 0 on, 0 out)

OTHER SCORES:

National League
SF (0-1) 0, LAD (1-0) 5
W: Penny (1-0) L: Zito (0-1)
HR: LAD - Kent (1, 1st inning off Zito, 1 on, 1 out)

ARI (1-0) 4, CIN (0-1) 2
W: Webb (1-0) L: Harang (0-1) S: Lyon (1)
HR: ARI - Young (1, 3rd inning off Harang, 0 on 1 out), Byrnes (1, 3rd inning off Harang, 0 on, 2 0ut), Salazar (1, 7th inning off Burton, 0 on, 2 out)

WSH (2-0) 11, PHI (0-1) 6
W: Rivera (1-0) L: Gordon (0-1)
HR: WSH - Milledge (1, 6th inning off Madson, 1 on, 2 out) PHI - Utley (1, 6th inning off Chico, 0 on, 0 out), Rollins (1, 7th inning off King, 1 on, 1 out)

PIT (1-0) 12, ATL (0-2) 11 (F/12)
W: Osoria (1-0) L: Boyer (0-1)
HR: PIT - Nady 2 (2, 8th inning off Acosta, 0 on, 0 out; 12th inning off Boyer, 2 on, 2 out), McClouth (1, 8th inning off Acosta, 2 on, 2 out) ATL - McCann (1, 4th inning off Snell, 0 on, 0 out), Francoeur (1, 12th inning off Osoria, 0 on, 2 out)

HOU (0-1) 0, SD (1-0) 4
W: Peavy (1-0) L: Oswalt (0-1)
HR: None

COL @ STL: PPD due to rain. Rescheduled for Tuesday 4/1.

American League:

CHW (0-1) 8, CLE (1-0) 10
W: Betancourt (1-0) L: Dotel (0-1) S: Borowski (1)
HR: CHW - Thome 2 (2, 1st inning off Sabathia, 1 on, 1 out; 3rd inning off Sabathia, 1 on, 1 out), Dye (1, 9th inning off Borowski, 0 on, 1 out) CLE - Gutierrez (1, 2nd inning off Buerhle, 0 on, 2 out), Sizemore (1, 2nd inning off Buerhle, 0 on, 2 0ut).

TB (1-0) 6, BAL (0-1) 2
W: Shields (1-0) L: Guthrie (0-1)
HR: TB - Hinske (1, 4th inning off Guthrie, 0 on, 0 out)

TEX (0-1) 2, SEA (1-0) 5
W: Green (1-0) L: Millwood (0-1) S: Putz (1)
HR: TEX - Young (1, 1st inning off Bedard, 0 on, 1 out)

LAA (0-1) 2, MIN (1-0) 3
W: Hernandez (1-0) L: Weaver (0-1) S: Nathan (1)
HR: None

TOR @ NYY: PPD due to rain. Rescheduled for Tuesday 4/1.