From Chicago, Illinois

Did You Know

Yesterday, Bill Murray threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field, then autographed the ball and gave it to Cubs starter Ryan Dempster. Dempster did not realize the ball was autographed and used it in the game. On the very first pitch, Desmond lined a single into right field to kick off the season, then asked for the "regular ball" back as a souvenir. He was very surprised to see what was on the ball. The rest of the game went on in 40-degree weather with wind chills in the 30s, with me freezing in the stands.

This Day in Baseball History

4/6/1973: 24-year-old Yankee Ron Blomberg becomes the first DH in history while facing the Red Sox. He goes 1-3 in the game, then finishes the season out with 12 home runs and a .329 average in 100 games.

News

In the longest game in Opening Day history, the Blue Jays beat the Indians 7-4 on a 16th inning three run home run by J.P. Arencibia. He has now homered in his first game in each of the past three seasons.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead into the ninth against the Red Sox, but last year's perfect closer Jose Valverde blew the save to give Boston a 2-1 lead. Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson bailed him out with a walk off single in the bottom of the inning to win 3-2.

Game Scores

Nationals (1-0) beat the Cubs (0-1) 2-1.

Tigers (1-0) beat the Red Sox (0-1) 3-2.

Phillies (1-0) beat the Pirates (0-1) 1-0.

Mets (1-0) beat the Braves (0-1) 1-0.

Dodgers (1-0) beat the Padres (0-1) 5-3.

Yankees and Rays didn't play.

Top Scorer: Blue Jays beat the Indians 7-4 (16 innings).

Standings

AL East: Blue Jays (1-0, 1.000 WPCT). AL Central: Tigers (1-0, 1.000). AL West: A's and Mariners (1-1, .500).

NL East: Mets, Phillies, and Nationals (1-0, 1.000). NL Central: Reds and Cardinals (1-0, 1.000). NL West: Dodgers (1-0, 1.000).

AL Wild Cards: A's/Mariners (1-1, .500). NL Wild Cards: Too many to count. Bottom Team: Marlins (0-2, .000).

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Jhonny Peralta (Tigers) and Carlos Ruiz (Phillies), 1.000 (3-3). Home runs: 11 tied with 1. RBI: J.P. Arencibia (Blue Jays), Jack Hanahan (Indians), and Matt Kemp (Dodgers), 3. Stolen bases: 9 tied with 1.

Pitching: Wins: 10 tied with 1. K's: Ryan Dempster (Cubs) and Justin Masterson (Indians), 10. ERA: Roy Halladay (Phillies) and Justin Verlander (Tigers), 0.00 (8 shutout innings). Saves: 7 tied with 1.

Top Performers

Offensive: Jose Bautista (Blue Jays): 3-4, home run, 2 RBI, run, 2 walks, AVG up .750 from .--- to .750, hitting streak to 1 game (3-4, .750).

Pitching: Roy Halladay (Phillies): Win (1-0), 8 shutout innings, 2 hits, no walks, 5 K's (5), ERA drop: -.-- runs from -.-- to 0.00.

Worst Pitching Performance: Chris Perez (Indians): 0.2 innings, 3 earned runs, 3 hits, 2 walks, 0 K's, ERA jump: -.-- runs from -.-- to 40.50.

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Teams followed in this email: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. BAA: batting average against. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman