MAJOR LEAGUES OPEN 2009 SEASON

Major League Baseball’s 2009 season is underway. April 6 saw Opening Day heroics from the likes of Ken Griffey Junior, Francisco Rodriguez, Tony Clark, Felipe Lopez and Emilio Bonifacio.

Griffey hit an Opening Day homer for the eighth time in his career as the Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-1, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Griffey’s homer, the 612th of his career, ties him with Frank Robinson for most Opening Day longballs.

Rodriguez made his debut for the New York Mets a memorable one, striking out Cincinnati’s Ramon Hernandez to finish a 1-2-3 ninth inning and save the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Reds at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark.

Clark and Lopez became the first pair of switch-hitters from the same team to hit homers from both sides of the plate on Opening Day in nine seasons as the Arizona Diamondbacks held off the Colorado Rockies, 9-8, at Chase Field in Phoenix.

The 23-year-old Bonifacio was 4-for-4 with three stolen bases for the Florida Marlins in a 12-6 win over Washington in Miami’s Dolphin Stadium. Bonifacio hit an inside-the-park homer, becoming the first big leaguer to do so on Opening Day since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski turned the trick in 1968.