Game Recap

Baltimore Oriole Jeremy Guthrie showed up to play Friday night at Tropicana Field and he pitched like the first-round draft pick he is.

Prior to the 2007 season that featured CC Sabathia’s last run at a World Series ring in Cleveland, Guthrie was claimed off waivers from the Indians.

He has spent the better part of his career in relative obscurity on a bad team in a division dominated by powerhouses.

Everything looked a bit different on Opening Day today as I watched the Mariners after six months of waiting. Maybe it was because of the new ROOT Sports look instead of FSN. Maybe it was all the changes the M’s had made to their team in the offseason.

Maybe it was the fact that we were missing Dave Niehaus and his sweet, sweet voice...I found my eyes misty as I watched the pre-game Opening Day introduction narrated by Niehaus.

Some things went right on Friday night. Others went wrong.

The Giants were able to muster more than one run and hold a lead only to have errors and questionable pitching moves undo them in the sixth inning.

Some questions were answered, but others have been raised.

Brandon Belt has arrived

Brandon Belt hit his first career home run against Chad Billingsley. On top of that, his three-run homer gave the Giants a 3-1 lead.

Everything looked a bit different on Opening Day as I watched the Mariners after six months of waiting. Maybe it was because of the new ROOT Sports look instead of FSN. Maybe it was all the changes the M’s had made to their team in the offseason.

Maybe it was the fact that we were missing Dave Niehaus and his sweet, sweet voice—I found my eyes misty as I watched the pre-game Opening Day introduction narrated by Niehaus.

Don’t hand the Twins the AL Central title just yet. The kinks made themselves visible Friday on Opening Day for the Twins.

The Twins ace, the man who is supposed to be the rock in the Twins rotation, got mauled in the first inning for four runs. Carl Pavano only lasted four innings and ended up allowing eight runs, seven of which were earned. But the beatdown didn’t end there.

The Twins basically got out-hit, out-pitched, out-everythinged.

The offseason buildup and hype surrounding the 2011 Athletics mostly centered on the improved offense that would support the teams solid pitching and defense.

Thankfully, the baseball season consists of 162 games, because after the Opening Day loss to the Seattle Mariners, that offseason assessment of this team took a major hit.

Going into opening day for the Athletics and the Mariners, most people were expecting a pitching duel between Felix Hernandez (13-12, 232 K's, 2.72 ERA, Cy Young winner in 2010) and Trevor Cahilll (18-8, 118 K's, 2.97 ERA). 

The first three innings didn't exactly live up to these standards. Cahill was up to 65 pitches after three and the Mariners hitting was effectively working the count on him.  He looked a little shaky, throwing several pitches way out of the zone and walking in a run.

The New York Mets opened their season against the Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium, hoping to rebound from a subpar season in 2010. Unfortunately, the bad play from the previous campaign reared its ugly head in the first game of the 2011 season.

I have been a Texas Rangers fan my entire life.  Well, except for when I was a kid and loved the A's, but that was just because they were the best team of the era and as a kid you always pick the winner.

It has not been easy being a Rangers' fan, and despite their debateably unexpected success last season, it is still not easy.  I am convinced that even if the Rangers had beat the Giants the media would have come up with excuses as to why the Giants lost.

The weather is getting nicer outside, and Opening Day came and went with six games that each had interesting endings.

We had studs like Mariano Rivera and Heath Bell shutting the door on their opponents, and John Axford and Ryan Franklin looking just a bit shaky.

Let's take a look at the news we missed in the preseason edition and then dive into Opening Day.

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