The Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds had never opened the season before. Cincinnati opened against the Milwaukee Braves three times, going 1-2. The only Reds win came in 1954 behind lefthander Joe Nuxhall, now a Reds announcer. . . . Davey Lopes got into his first argument as manager in the second inning, when Dante Bichette threw out Kevin Barker on a close play at third. Lopes stood and waved his arms in front of third base umpire Ron Kulpa, one of those promoted to the NL staff last August.
CINCINNATI: Chief operating officer John Allen confirmed that the club already has sold about 2 million tickets, its total for all of last season. . . . SS Barry Larkin, who has spent his entire career with his hometown team, said his agent is waiting to hear back from the Reds in their negotiations over a contract extension.
CUBS—CARDINALS
CHICAGO: The Cubs have eight new players and a new manager, Don Baylor, after finishing 67-95 last year. Only six players remain from their 1998 NL division series roster. . . . Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire homered on the same day 42 times the past two seasons. . . . SS Ricky Gutierrez started after not seeing action in the Tokyo series against the New York Mets due to a strain in the left rib cage muscle. Gutierrez, a free-agent pickup, hit .347 in spring training.
ST. LOUIS: Mark McGwire had homered each of the last two opening days. This is the 11th series between McGwire and the Cubs' Sammy Sosa. . . . The Cardinals are opening at home for the third straight season, and offseason pickup Darryl Kile is making his third straight opening-day start. Kile won on opening day the previous two seasons for the Colorado Rockies.
ROCKIES—BRAVES
COLORADO: Jeff Manto and Scott Servais are the first non-roster invitees to make the Rockies' opening day roster since 1997 when the team purchased the contract of Darnell Coles.
ATLANTA: Greg Maddux went 7 2-3 innings in a 2-0 win over Colorado. The righthander has 28 shutouts in his career but had none last season. His last blanking was Aug. 6, 1998, when he beat Cincinnati on a three-hitter. . . . Mike Remlinger, who had three career saves before Monday, said he feels he can do the job as closer. John Rocker, however, was suspended for the first 14 days of the season because of his derogatory remarks about gays, foreigners and minorities in a magazine article during the winter.
ASTROS—PIRATES
HOUSTON: This is the first time in franchise history the Astros have opened a season in Pittsburgh. . . . The Astros (20-11) tied Oakland for the best winning percentage in spring training. Only Arizona (21-13) won more games. . . . 2B Craig Biggio is making his 12th consecutive opening day start and his ninth at 2B. His first three were at catcher.
PITTSBURGH: 2B Warren Morris' infected shin as improved to the point he probably will start Wednesday night against Houston. The Pirates originally feared late last week he might have to go on the disabled list.
PADRES—METS
SAN DIEGO:Sterling Hitchcock nearly missed his chance to start opening day. Cleveland was close to acquiring the lefthander but needed to complete another trade, to clear some salary in order to take on Hitchcock's deal. Hitchcock allowed one run in 6 1-3 innings and got a no-decision in the Padres' 2-1 loss to the Mets. . . . Tony Gwynn and Ruben Rivera were the only players in the Padres' lineup who also started last year's opener. Gwynn made his 17th straight opening day start.
NEW YORK: The Mets gave Garth Brooks a watch and honored him as their spring training rookie of the year even though the country singer went 0-for-17. . . . Benny Agbayani, who hit the game-winning grand slam against the Cubs in Japan last Thursday, got one of the biggest ovations from the crowd before the game. Agbayani, a favorite of manager Bobby Valentine, is scheduled to be sent to the minors on Sunday to make room for fifth starter Glendon Rusch.
GIANTS—MARLINS
SAN FRANCISCO: Barry Bonds came into the game with 60 walks in 58 games against Florida. . . . Livan Hernandez, the Giants' starter Monday night, started the 1998 opener for Miami.
FLORIDA: Purchased the contracts of RHP Ricky Bones and OF Mark Smith and designated for assignment RHP Jared Camp and OF Derrick Gibson. Smith arrived Monday in Miami, dressed for pregame drills and then asked a group of reporters, "How do I get to the field?"
DODGERS—EXPOS
LOS ANGELES: The Dodgers and Expos became the fifth and sixth teams to open the current season outside of the United States, a first in major league history. The New York Mets and Chicago Cubs opened the season with a two-game series last week in Japan, and Toronto played host to Kansas City earlier Monday.
MONTREAL: A moment of silence was held prior to Monday night's season opener in memory of Cindy Lloyd, the wife of Expos reliever Graeme Lloyd, who died in the morning as a result of complications from Crohn's disease.