In U.S. Major League Baseball, controversial San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds had a lackluster performance in the Giants' 6-4 home opener win over the Atlanta Braves.
After getting a big ovation from the home crowd, Bonds drew two intentional walks, struck out and hit a weak ground ball to first base in Thursday's National League contest. He is trying to set a new Major League home run record, but has been plagued by allegations of using performance enhancing substances.
The Giants scored all six of their runs in the third inning to beat Atlanta.
Arizona starter Miguel Batista had a career-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings as his Diamondbacks trounced the Colorado Rockies 12-5 in Denver.
In other N.L. action Thursday, the Cincinnati Reds topped the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5, the New York Mets trounced the Washington Nationals 10-5, and the St. Louis Cardinals won 4-2 over the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the American League, Tampa Bay's Mark Hendrickson allowed only three hits in the Devil Rays' 2-0 shutout of the host Baltimore Orioles.
In Toronto, Jason Phillips hit a tiebreaking double to help lift the Blue Jays over the Minnesota Twins 6-3.
In other A.L. games, the Detroit Tigers thumped the Texas Rangers 10-6, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 6-2.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
