Rockies president Keli McGregor, while on a business trip for the club, is found dead in his hotel room in downtown Salt Lake City. The 48 year-old baseball executive, believed to have died of natural causes, spent 17 years with Colorado.
The Braves stage a late-game homer barrage to beat the Phillies, 4 – 3. Trailing 3 – 0 entering the bottom of the 9th, after being muzzled for 8 innings by Kyle Kendrick, who had entered the game with a 17.47 ERA, the Braves tee off against Ryan Madson after two outs. Troy Glaus goes deep with a runner on base and rookie Jason Heyward follows with a game-tying blast. Nate McLouth then hits a walk-off long ball against Jose Contreras in the 10th inning.
On the day the struggling Boston Red Sox have to place two starting outfielders – Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron – on the disabled list, they eke out a dramatic 7 – 6 win over the Texas Rangers. Entering the game with a 4-9 record, they fall behind 5 – 1 and 6 – 2 while the Rangers run wild, stealing 9 bases against the duo of Tim Wakefield and Victor Martinez. the Rangers swipe nine bases, including a club-record of five in one inning, to establish a franchise mark. The number of stolen bases allowed by the Boston backstops ties the 1913 mark for the most ever yielded by the team in one game. They then mount a comeback when Darnell McDonald, called up earlier in the day from AAA Pawtucket, hits a two-run game-tying pinch homer in the 8th, then ends the game with a run-scoring single off the Green Monster in the bottom of the 9th.
Pitcher Edinson Volquez of the Reds is suspended for 50 games for failing a PED test during spring training. He underwent Tommy John surgery last August and is currently on the disabled list; he will serve his suspension without being activated.
The Mets need 20 innings to beat the Cardinals, 2 – 1, in the longest game since this date in 2008. Jose Reyes drives in the winning run with a sacrifice fly after going 0 for 7 for the day in a game dominated by the pitchers. Both starters, Johan Santana for New York and Jaime Garcia for St. Louis, pitch 7 scoreless innings and the game is still scoreless after 17 frames, but the Cardinals eventually run out of able-bodied pitchers. 2B Felipe Lopez is sent out to the mound and pitches a scoreless 18th inning, while P Kyle Lohse goes out to play left field, but their teammate, OF Joe Mather, gives up a run in the top of the 19th. However, Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez gives the run right back, but the Mets score again off Mather in the 20th. Mather is saddled with the loss, while Rodriguez gets the win and starter Mike Pelfrey comes out in the 21st to record the save for the Mets.
Jorge Cantu of the Marlins becomes the first player in 89 years to collect at least one hit and one RBI in his team’s first eight games of the season, thanks to an RBI single against Bronson Arroyo of the Cincinnati Reds. George “Highpockets” Kelly was the last player to accomplish the feat, in 1921. Cantu now has 13 RBI for the year and his streak has reached 13 consecutive games, dating back to 2009. However, the Reds win the game, 10 – 8, in 11 innings. Cantu will extend his season-opening streak to 10 games with a home run tomorrow and a double the next day.
Matt Stairs plays for his twelfth major league organization, equaling Deacon McGuire’s record (1884 to 1912) for the most teams ever played with by a position player. The 18-year veteran, who also joins pitchers Mike Morgan and Ron Villone for being on a dozen different clubs, flies out in a pinch-hitting role for the Padres in a 6-3 loss to Arizona at Chase Field.
Jason Heyward, the Minor League Player of the Year last year, starts his major league career with fireworks, connecting for a three-run home run off Carlos Zambrano in the 1st inning in front of 60 friends and family members at Turner Field as Atlanta cruises to a 16 – 5 win over the Cubs.
In his first start for the Phillies, Roy Halladay throws seven strong innings to lead the defending National League champions to an easy 11 – 1 win over Washington in front of President Barack Obama, who throws out the ceremonial first pitch. Placido Polanco drives in six runs in his return to Philadelphia, while Ryan Howard homers.
With spring training coming to an end, the disabled list is getting crowded. Among those who will miss the beginning of the season are Mets SS Jose Reyes, who missed most of 2009 with injuries and joins teammates Daniel Murphy, Carlos Beltran and Kelvim Escobar on the list; Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler, suffering from a sprained ankle; Astros 1B Lance Berkman, recovering from knee surgery, and two Houston pitchers, Alberto Arias and Yorman Bazardo; Rockies closer Huston Street, shelved by shoulder stiffness; and Toronto P Mark Rzepczynski, out with a broken finger, the result of being struck on his pitching hand by a ball batted by the Yankees’ Ramiro Pena a day earlier.
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