The fans at Dodger Stadium let Gary Sheffield hear their boos. One home run later, he heard their cheers.
Sheffield, at odds with the Dodgers during spring training, hit a sixth-inning home run off Jamey Wright on Monday that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 season-opening win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
"I hope all is forgiven," Sheffield said. "I'm not upset. I understand the fans' reaction, no matter what it may be. The bottom line is we need the fan support to get to the World Series."
Sheffield criticized Dodgers management and teammates during spring training after Los Angeles wouldn't extend his contract beyond 2004. He asked for a trade, but later withdrew the request and apologized.
"A fitting ending for him, and also quite a statement by the fans of Los Angeles and what they're all about," said Jim Tracy, who won in his first game as Dodgers manager. "It just did my heart good to see them respond like that. I take my cap off to every one of them."
ROCKIES 8, CARDINALS 0: Mike Hampton tamed Coors Field in his Rockies debut, allowing five hits in 8 1-3 innings and striking out five. During last year's NL championship series, Hampton pitched 16 scoreless innings against the Cardinals to earn MVP honors for the Mets.
BRAVES 10, REDS 4: Rafael Furcal homered and drove in a career-high four runs against the Reds in Cincinnati's traditional NL opener.
GIANTS 3, PADRES 2: Barry Bonds hit 495th career homer and threw out Tony Gwynn at home plate at Pacific Bell Park.
EXPOS 5, CUBS 4: Vladimir Guerrero hit a go-ahead single in the 10th, and Jose Vidro had a two-run homer for visiting Montreal.
Winner Graeme Lloyd got just one out, getting a grounder to escape a big jam in the ninth and send the game into extra innings.
PHILLIES 6, MARLINS 5: Reliever Amaury Telemaco pitched four shutout innings for the win and scored the tiebreaking run at Miami on Doug Glanville's 13th-inning grounder off Vladimir Nunez.