W: Logan Ondrusek (1-0)
L: John Axford (0-1)
HR: Rickie Weeks (1), Carlos Gomez (1), Ryan Braun (1), Drew Stubbs (1), Joey Votto (1), Ramon Hernandez (1, walkoff)
Well, after today we all know how good we are at cursing.
Rickie Weeks set the tone for a great 2011 campaign early today by homering on the game's seventh pitch, becoming the first Brewer ever to lead off the season with a long ball. Then, before the dust had settled, Carlos Gomez hit another to give the Brewers an early 2-0 lead. The Brewers expanded the lead to 6-3 and, going into the ninth, it looked like John Axford was going to slam the door for the first win of 2011.
Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. The Reds loaded the bases with no one out in the ninth against John Axford and, after striking out Jay Bruce and giving up a sac fly to Jonny Gomes, he surrendered a three run walkoff shot to Ramon Hernandez to ruin the day.
All told, Ryan Braun had the Brewers' best offensive day, reaching base in each of his first four plate appearances with two walks, a single and a home run. The Brewers' 1-5 hitters combined for seven hits (including all three home runs), five walks and five of the six runs. Mark Kotsay and Yuniesky Betancourt batted sixth and seventh and went a combined 0-for-7. Kotsay also kicked a couple of puppies and invented a new disease before being lifted for a pinch hitter.
Yovani Gallardo's outing got off to a bit of a rough start today, but he rebounded for a pretty solid performance. He needed nearly 60 pitches to get through the first three innings but worked efficiently through the middle of the game to pick up his first quality start of the season. All told, he allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings, walking three and striking out four.
Don't look now, but Kameron Loe is on pace for 162 appearances. He pitched the seventh inning today and allowed a solo shot to Joey Votto, but struck out the other three batters he faced. Takashi Saito pitched a scoreless eighth in his Brewer debut.