Opening Day Blog

Stuck in the office on Opening Day? No worries -- we've got you covered. SI.com's baseball experts Ted Keith, Ben Reiter, Jon Heyman, Albert Chen, Tim Marchman and Gennaro Filice will offer live commentary all day long. Check back throughout the day for continuous updates through the afternoon games.

Final: Orioles 10, Yankees 5

CC Sabathia got off to a horrendous start as a Yankee, giving up six earned runs. AP

8:01 p.m. ET

BALTIMORE -- Here are three things to take away from this game:

1. CC Sabathia wasn't worth $161 million. Or even anything. He was simply awful in his Yankees' debut. He lasted 4 2/3 innings and didn't manage to strike out a single batter. The harsh fans here shouted "Over-Rated'' and other negative things at him. And they were right on the money.

2. The fans were also all over the hometown boy Mark Teixeira, who was a marked man for his own Yankees debut. Booed from the start of the game, Teixeira was quietly unproductive, and thus much better than Sabathia.

3. The Orioles got a nice game from starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie and a lot of hitting off a bunch of Yankees pitchers (not just CC). Brian Roberts and Adam Jones were on all day at the top of the Orioles' lineup in a 14-hit attack that overwhelmed their richer rivals.

-- Jon Heyman

Final: Pirates 6, Cardinals 4

7:43 p.m. ET

What a devastating loss for the baseball-crazy folks in St. Louis.

The Cardinals seemed poised for an Opening Day win after Ryan Ludwick led off the bottom of the eighth with a majestic, tie-breaking solo blast. David Freese's sacrifice fly four batters later gave the Cards a 4-2 lead going into the ninth inning. But the Buccos exploded for four runs in the ninth inning off new Cardinals closer Jason Motte, sending the Busch Stadium patrons home with a horrendous taste in their collective mouth.

Here are three things to take away from this ballgame:

1. As we all suspected, St. Louis' bullpen could be a huge problem. The Cardinals repeatedly shot themselves in the foot last season with ninth-inning meltdowns, sporting a 5.01 ERA in save situations. Jason Motte won the closer job with a stellar spring (12.1 IP, 1.46 ERA, 18 K, 1 walk), but he unquestionably flunked his 2009 regular season debut. After giving up a leadoff double to Freddy Sanchez on his first offering of the ninth inning, Motte actually recovered to retire the next two Pirates. But the 26-year-old rookie just couldn't hammer down that last out, and proceeded to take the loss by yielding four earned runs on four hits (including three doubles). Should Motte continue to falter, Tony La Russa will turn to Chris Perez or Ryan Franklin as his ninth-inning man.

2. Impressive start for Nyjer Morgan. He has a long way to go to make fans forget about Jason Bay, but the Pirates' new left fielder (and leadoff hitter) didn't look too shabby on Opening Day. Morgan went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a steal.

3. Albert Pujols is Albert Pujols. New season, same old Phat Albert. The two-time MVP kicked off the '09 campaign with his standard production -- 3-for-4 with a double and a walk. There have been rumblings that Hanley Ramirez is on the verge of establishing himself as the best player in baseball, but I think Mr. Pujols might have something to say about that.

-- Gennaro Filice

Orioles 10, Yankees 5, end of the eighth

7:39 p.m. ET

BALTIMORE -- Call it the Revenge of Jeffrey Maier.

A fan wearing an orange Orioles jersey reached out over the wall and pulled a fly ball away from Yankees left fielder Johnny Damon and into the left field stands for a home run. (At least the umpires called it a home run.)

Yankees manager Joe Girardi argued briefly, but to no avail.

In a way it's a bit of justice -- though Maier's play on a Derek Jeter fly ball led to a playoff victory en route to the Yankees' first World Series title in 18 years.

It's doubtful this similar call will lead to a championship for the Orioles ...

-- Jon Heyman

Orioles 6, Yankees 5, middle of the eighth

7:32 p.m. ET

BALTIMORE -- Mark Teixeira had a chance to make sure it wasn't a $341 million Opening Day wipeout for the Yankees. But alas, batting before the boo birds in Birdland, Teixeira grounded to second with the go-ahead runs on base -- much to the delight of the hometown that appears to hate him now. That made the $180 million Teixeira 0-for-4 with a walk, which was a slightly better debut than that of $161 million pitcher CC Sabathia, who was truly awful in allowing all six Orioles runs.

Orioles reliever Jim Johnson escaped trouble after allowing a leadoff double to Yankees super sub Nick Swisher. The other key out came when Derek Jeter grounded to shortstop with pinch runner Ramiro Pena at third base, one out and the Orioles infield playing in. This is shaping up as a disastrous opener for the Yankees.

-- Jon Heyman

Final: Marlins 12, Nationals 5

7:14 p.m. ET

Honestly, there wasn't much new information to take from this game. We knew Washington has some problems with pitching and defense. We knew Florida can kill the ball against the right pitchers. We knew that while these teams have some real talent, they're not real contenders.

The most interesting point for Florida may relate to Ricky Nolasco.

Six innings with four earned runs doesn't look like much in the box score, but the six strikeouts against no walks was probably the more telling point. He had a few bad minutes in the top of the sixth, when he let the first two batters on and then gave up a home run to Adam Dunn, but for most of the afternoon he was devastating, showing tight command and a variety of breaking pitches.

For Washington, all their flaws were on display: Weak starting, weaker relief, poor defense and a mismanaged roster that leaves Elijah Dukes, one of their two or three best hitters, without a clear role on the team. Very little of this is manager Manny Acta's fault, but he's the one who has to deal with it, and it's hard to see what exactly he's supposed to do.

-- Tim Marchman

Orioles 6, Yankees 5, top of the seventh

7:10 p.m. ET

BALTIMORE -- Who needs Alex Rodriguez? Hideki Matsui, taking A-Rod's cleanup spot, hit a long home run to right-center field off Chris Ray to bring the Yankees within a run at 6-5.

The Orioles' 6-1 lead built against disappointing Yankees starter CC Sabathia looks precarious now -- though Orioles reliever Dennis Darfate induced Xavier Nady to ground into a double play with two runners on, preventing further damage.

It's apt Vice President Joe Biden threw out the first ball. The game is getting to be like a Biden soliloquy -- very long.

-- Jon Heyman

Orioles 6, Yankees 3, bottom of the sixth

6:53 p.m. ET

BALTIMORE -- Brian Roberts and Adam Jones look like a formidable duo at the top of Baltimore's order.

And Orioles manager Dave Trembley looks like a genius for batting Jones second, where he batted only .252 last year in 25 games.

Combined, the duo reached base eight times in their first eight plate appearances on Opening Day. Each had three hits and walk.

That reflects on them. And also to a degree on CC Sabathia, the Yankees' well-publicized, well-paid Yankees starter.

-- Jon Heyman