President Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch as Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds opened their 2006 season Monday against the visiting Chicago Cubs.
Mr. Bush wore a Reds jersey and was greeted mostly by cheers in the pro-Republican Ohio city. It was the third straight year the president has done the honors at an opening day baseball game.
He had been invited to Cincinnati by new Reds majority owner Bob Castellini, who was part of Mr. Bush's group which owned the Texas Rangers team more than 10 years ago.
On the field, the Chicago Cubs blasted Cincinnati, 16-7.
In other openers, Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins extended his hitting streak to 37 games, covering two seasons, with a double in the eighth inning, but the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Phillies 13-5.
The host New York Mets edged the Washington Nationals, 3-2. and the Colorado Rockies won at home by the same score, 3-2, over the Arizona Diamondbacks, in a game that went 11 innings.
Other scores were:
Milwaukee Brewers 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 2
Boston Red Sox 7, Texas Rangers 3
Baltimore Orioles 9, Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6
Detroit Tigers 3, Kansas City Royals 1
Atlanta Braves 11, Los Angeles Dodgers 10
Los Angeles Angels 5, Seattle Mariners 4
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.