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.

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.

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.

In St. Louis, Kyle Lohse of the Cardinals joins Harang with a three-hit shutout of his own in beating Houston. After giving up a single to leadoff hitter Kazuo Matsui, Lohse sets down the next 24 batters in order on his way to a 3 – 0 victory.

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.

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.

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart is killed in the early hours of the morning in Fullerton, California, hours after making his first start of the season, when the car he is riding in is hit by a van that ran a red light. Two fellow passengers are also killed in the hit-and-run collision. The Angels’ game today is cancelled in mourning.

The Blue Jays beat the Tigers, 6 – 2, as Ricky Romero outduels Rick Porcello. It is only the 19th time since 1901 that opposing starters both make their major league debuts together and it is the first time that two former first-round draft picks debut against one another.

Just hours after pitching six shutout innings against Oakland, Nick Adenhart is killed in a hit-and-run car accident. In memory of the 22 year-old right-handed rookie, the Angels postpone tonight’s game with the A’s.