2009 – In a 6 – 1 Reds win over the Brewers, David Weathers retires both batters he faces. It is his 900th game in the majors, the 20th player to reach the milestone.

The White Sox top the Tigers, 10 – 6. Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back homers in the 2nd for the Sox, each of them reaching 300 career home runs with their blows. No teammates had ever reached 300, 400 or 500 in the same game, let alone the same inning.

In Los Angeles, Orlando Hudson hits for the cycle and Andre Ethier belts two home runs and drives in four runs as the Dodgers defeat the Giants, 11 – 1. Randy Johnson gives up 7 runs in 3 2/3 innings for the losers.

Nick Swisher, who throws 22 pitches, allowing just one hit and one walk before retiring the next three consecutive batters, including a swinging strikeout of Gabe Kapler, becomes the first position player to pitch for the Yankees since Wade Boggs took the mound in 1997. During the 15-5 rout by the Rays at Tampa’s Tropicana Field, the fun-loving first baseman volunteered to pitch the eighth inning to help save the bullpen after starter Chien-Ming Wang lasts only one inning.

San Diego beats the Mets, 6 – 5, in the first game to be played at Citi Field in New York. The first batter of the game, Jody Gerut, hits a home run off Mike Pelfrey as the Padres jump to an early 5 – 1 lead. New York ties it on a three-run home run by David Wright, but the winning run scores when Luis Rodríguez reaches on a three-base error by RF Ryan Church and crosses the plate when Pedro Feliciano commits a balk.

In the LA home opener, Orlando Hudson completes his cycle with a sixth-inning triple down the right-field line in the team’s 11-1 rout of the Giants. The second baseman becomes the first Dodger to hit for the cycle at Dodger Stadium, and the first franchise player to accomplish the feat in a nine-inning game since Gil Hodges did it in 1949.

For the second time in a week, a team draws four bases-loaded walks in one inning. This time, it’s the Chicago Cubs who profit, in a game in which four Brewer pitchers issue 10 free passes and hit two batters. The Cubs score 4 runs in the top of the 4th inning thanks to Milwaukee’s generosity, but the key play in the 9 – 5 victory happens in the bottom of the 5th when Reed Johnson robs Prince Fielder of a grand slam by climbing over the right field fence at Miller Park. Ryan Dempster is the winner in the nationally-televized contest. On April 8th, the Phillies had also drawn four bases-loaded walks in an inning.

With runners taking off from first and second base, Pirates’ shortstop Jack Wilson Reds third baseman Edwin Encarnacion’s turns soft liner into a triple play. The triple killing is the Bucs’ first since 1993, and the team’s first on the road in 41 years.

Aaron Harang of the Cincinnati Reds pitches the first shutout of the season when he disposes of the Pirates, 2 – 0, on three hits. Brandon Phillips hits a two-run homer for the Reds. Pittsburgh pulls off a triple play in the 8th inning in going down in defeat. It is the first triple play by Pittsburgh in 16 years and their first one on the road since 1968, when Gene Alley and Bill Mazeroski teamed with Donn Clendenon on one, also against Cincinnati.