President George W. Bush threw the first pitch for the Cincinnati Reds' home opener in Major League Baseball on Monday, becoming the first sitting president to throw a ceremonial pitch in Cincinnati as the Reds took on the Chicago Cubs.
The ball to catcher Jason LaRue was high and off the plate.
Bush received a loud standing ovation when he took the mound. He was accompanied by two injured soldiers and a father who lost his son in Afghanistan.
PHOTO: AP
Small American flags were distributed to the crowd of 42,000 before the game.
Bush, the former Texas Rangers owner, told Fox Sports Network in a gametime interview that he has long been a baseball fan.
"I was born when my dad was in college, and he was the first baseman for the Yale Bulldogs, and mother used to take me to the games," Bush said.
"I've got the dish at home at the White House, and so, when I'm doing my work, I keep a game on. And there's nothing better than opening day," Bush said.
Cubs 16, Reds 7
Matt Murton homered in a five-run first inning and Todd Walker singled home a pair of runs in a seven-run sixth.
Chicago scored a club-record 16 runs in its opener for the second year in a row and stretched its first-game winning streak to four. The Reds hadn't given up so many opening-day runs since a 24-6 loss to Louisville in 1877.
Will Ohman got the win in relief of Carlos Zambrano. Loser Aaron Harang gave up nine runs -- six earned -- and nine hits in five innings.
Cardinals 13, Phillies 5
At Philadelpia, Jimmy Rollins extended his hitting streak to 37 games with a double in the eighth inning, but the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 13-5 in Monday's opener as Albert Pujols homered twice and Scott Rolen hit a grand slam.
"I've been waiting five or six months, so I didn't mind waiting," Rollins said. "It was good to get the first game out of the way."
Chris Carpenter pitched five effective innings for the win, allowing four runs and nine hits.
Rolen was 3-for-5 with four RBIs, Pujols was 2-for-2 with four RBIs and Aaron Miles had four hits, including two doubles and a triple.
"There's no way to explain it, coming here swinging the bats like that," Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said. "There were a lot of hits in that ballgame, but in the end, we had a couple of big damaging ones."
Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard homered for the Phillies, who ended up with their most lopsided opening-day loss since a 12-3 defeat to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1935.
Loser Jon Lieber gave up eight runs and nine hits in 3 1-3 innings.
"I felt fine. The results are a little embarrassing," Lieber said. "I have nobody to blame but myself."
Mets 3, Nationals 2
At New York, Tom Glavine outpitched Livan Hernandez in a matchup of World Series MVPs, Billy Wagner got a save in his Mets' debut and newcomer Xavier Nady went 4-for-4.
Washington's Alfonso Soriano, who made his major league outfield debut, was thrown out when he tried to score in the eighth on Ryan Zimmerman's double into the left-field corner. Jose Reyes' accurate relay throw to the plate beat a diving Soriano, but replays showed umpire Tim Tschida missed the call -- catcher Paul Lo Duca juggled and dropped the ball after applying the tag.
Making his seventh opening-day start, Glavine allowed one run and six hits in six innings to earn his 276th career win. The two-time Cy Young Award winner also went 2-for-2.
Coming off right knee surgery last October, Hernandez gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings.
Brewers 5, Pirates 2
At Milwaukee, Jeff Cirillo hit a two-run single in the seventh off loser Damaso Marte for a 3-2 lead and Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer in the eighth for Milwaukee.
Brewers reliever Justin Lehr got just his third major league win, pitching one hitless inning. Brewers closer Derrick Turnbow finished with a one-hit ninth for the save, one day after agreeing to a US$6.5 million, three-year contract.
Pittsburgh, which outhit the Brewers 7-6, squandered an impressive outing by starter Oliver Perez, who allowed one run and three hits in 5 1-3 innings and struck out nine.
Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 2,
11 innings
At Denver, Matt Holliday dashed home on Brad Hawpe's grounder and dived in ahead of the throw for Colorado's winning run.
With one out, Holliday and pinch-hitter Jason Smith hit back-to-back singles off Jason Grimsley, putting runners at the corners for Hawpe.
He grounded to first baseman Conor Jackson, who was playing in on the grass and quickly threw home, but Holliday had a great jump and beat the throw to the plate.
Mike DeJean pitched a scoreless inning for the victory over Arizona.
Jason Jennings allowed one run on six hits over seven innings for Colorado in his first start since July when he broke his right middle finger trying to break up a double play at Washington.
Braves 11, Dodgers 10
At Los Angeles, Atlanta began its quest for a 15th straight division title by building a quick seven-run lead, then hanging on as Tim Hudson and several relievers struggled.
Adam LaRoche and Andruw Jones hit three-run homers off Derek Lowe, and the Braves spoiled manager Grady Little's debut before the largest single-game regular-season crowd in Dodger Stadium history.
The Braves staked Hudson to a 4-0 lead before he threw a pitch and led 8-1 before he was chased in the fifth. Oscar Villarreal worked 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the victory. Chris Reitsma, the seventh Atlanta pitcher, survived a two-run ninth for the save.
Jose Cruz Jr. had four hits to equal a career high, Rafael Furcal had three hits and scored three runs and Jeff Kent had four RBIs.
Padres 6, Giants 1
At San Diego, the only way Barry Bonds got the ball out of the park was by bouncing a ground-rule double. Not so for Mike Piazza and Khalil Greene, who homered off Jason Schmidt to lead defending NL West champion San Diego.
Piazza homered in his first at-bat with the Padres in the second inning and Greene hit a two-run shot into the second deck in left -- practically over Bonds' head -- in the sixth. Greene finished with three RBIs.
Padres rookie Josh Barfield, son of former AL home run champ Jesse Barfield, singled to center leading off the fifth for his first big league hit.
Jake Peavy got the win by holding the Giants to a run and four hits in seven innings while striking out five and walking one. He led the NL with 216 strikeouts last year. Scott Linebrink and Clay Hensley completed the five-hitter.
Astros 1, Marlins 0
At Houston, Roy Oswalt and Brad Lidge combined on a five-hitter, Craig Biggio doubled and scored on Joe Borowski's wild pitch in the seventh inning, and Houston beat Florida and new manager Joe Girardi.
Oswalt struck out eight in eight innings, walked one and allowed five hits to win for the 13th time in 14 decisions at home. Lidge walked Jeremy Hermida leading off the ninth, then struck out Miguel Cabrera and got the save when Mike Jacobs grounded into a game-ending double play.
Florida, with a major league-low payroll of about US$15 million and six rookies in its starting lineup, couldn't generate any offense to support Dontrelle Willis, who held Houston hitless for the first 4 2-3 innings but walked three and was removed after five innings and 107 pitches. Josh Johnson was the loser in his first major league decision.
Curt Schilling looked a lot like his old self in his first opening-day start in seven years, and David Ortiz hit a two-run homer to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 7-3 on Monday.
Boston won on opening day for the first time since 2000, and Schilling allowed only two runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out five, walked one and gave up only one extra-base hit, a two-run homer by Hank Blalock in the sixth.
"I saw him pitching the last game he pitched in spring training and it was obvious he was right back where he likes to be," said Ortiz, who was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. "I saw him making his pitches, doing his thing. He looked great to me."
Jason Varitek had a two-run double, Mike Lowell led off the eighth with a home run and new Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp made a nice running catch at the wall of Laynce Nix's sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Loser Kevin Millwood, who had an American League-leading 2.86 ERA last season in Cleveland, gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings.
"I just threw too many bad pitches," Millwood said.
Orioles 9, Devil Rays 6
At Baltimore, Luis Matos and Melvin Mora hit successive homers in the fifth inning, and Miguel Tejada and Jeff Conine also connected as Baltimore won its sixth straight opener.
Newcomer Ramon Hernandez went 3-for-3 with a walk for the Orioles, who totaled 14 hits in Sam Perlozzo's managerial debut. Baltimore, which ranked last in the AL with 14 spring training homers, tied the team mark for an opener set in 1982.
Jonny Gomes and Travis Lee homered for Tampa Bay, but it wasn't enough offense to make a winner of Joe Maddon in his managerial debut.
Winner Rodrigo Lopez allowed five earned runs and seven hits in seven innings, and rookie Chris Ray got three outs for his first big league save. Loser Scott Kazmir gave up six runs and eight hits in four-plus innings.
Tigers 3, Royals 1
At Kansas City, Missouri, Kenny Rogers combined with two relievers on a four-hitter, Chris Shelton homered twice and Jim Leyland won his first game as Detroit's manager. Carlos Guillen also homered for the Tigers, and Fernando Rodney got the save in his first game as closer in place of injured Todd Jones.
Rogers gave up one run and three hits in six innings, struck out five and walked none in his first opening-day victory since 2000. Shelton hit two go-ahead solo homers off loser Scott Elarton, Shelton's first career multihomer game, and finished 3-for-4.
Angels 5, Mariners 4
At Seattle, Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to lift Los Angeles.
With the score tied 3-3, reliever George Sherrill walked Casey Kotchman. Jose Molina sacrificed pinch-runner Maicer Izturis to second and Tim Salmon advanced him to third on a groundout. Reliever J.J Putz walked Chone Figgins, who stole second before Cabrera's two-run single for the Angels.
Scot Shields pitched 1 1-3 innings in relief for the victory. Francisco Rodriguez earned the save, giving up a solo homer to pinch-hitter Roberto Petagine in the ninth.
Kenji Johjima, playing in the first major league game for a Japanese catcher, homered in the fifth inning for Seattle.
Yankees 15, Athletics 2
At Oakland, California, Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, Johnny Damon drove in a run in his New York debut, and Randy Johnson exhibited the dominant form he lacked for much of last season.
Rodriguez's 12th career grand slam highlighted New York's seven-run second inning.
Johnson allowed one run and five hits in seven innings.
The 15 runs were the most allowed by the A's on opening day, surpassing the 14 the Philadelphia A's gave up in a 14-8 loss to the Washington Senators on April 17, 1945.
Hideki Matsui homered on opening day for the second straight year, a three-run drive in the fourth. He finished with four hits and four RBIs.
A's ace Barry Zito gave up seven runs and four hits in 1 1-3 innings, the shortest outing of his career.
A fan tossed a syringe near Barry Bonds as he came off the field in between innings on Monday at Petco Park, and the San Francisco Giants slugger said he picked it up in his glove and carried it off the field.
The syringe apparently did not have a needle.
"I just put it off the field so no one would get hurt," said Bonds, who is under investigation by Major League Baseball for alleged steroid use.
The syringe toss occurred after the bottom of the eighth inning of the San Diego Padres' 6-1 win over the Giants.
"If that's what they want to do, embarrass themselves, then that's on them," Bonds said. "That has nothing to do with me at all."
According to the book ``Game of Shadows,'' written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Bonds used a vast array of performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and human growth hormone, for at least five seasons beginning in 1998. According to the book, Bonds used several substances in various forms, including by injecting himself with a syringe and taking injections from his personal trainer.
Bonds, who has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, was booed often by the sellout crowd of 43,767 on Monday.
"I don't judge them," Bonds said. "I have to concentrate on baseball."
Lawton a spectator
While the rest of the Seattle Mariners were taking the field on Monday, new outfielder Matt Lawton made his way out of the clubhouse to begin his 10-day suspension for a positive steroids test last September.
Lawton can be in the clubhouse until game time, when Major League Baseball rules state he must leave. Lawton planned to watch the opener against the Los Angeles Angels from one of the team's suites.
He did put on his No. 15 uniform and take the field during pregame ceremonies.
"I'll just be a fan today, watch the game and enjoy opening day," Lawton said.
Seattle was one of the few teams to give Lawton a chance after his positive steroids test. Lawton signed a one-year contract worth US$400,000.
Because he tested positive under the 2005 program, Lawton will miss the first 10 days of this season instead of 50 games, the penalty called for under the toughened agreement players and owners adopted under pressure from politicians.
Lawton has never shied away from his suspension, saying he was most embarrassed having to tell his family about intentionally taking boldenone, which is used by veterinarians.
Seattle's management signed Lawton after getting full assurance from Lawton that it was an isolated instance.
"I still take full responsibility for my actions," Lawton said.
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