Opening day featured two rainouts, six teams idle and the knowledge that for most 161 games remained after Monday. Still, there was enough action to produce numbers that fairly leap off the page:
1
Hits by the Texas Rangers in their 3-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners, becoming the first team since at least 1900 to win an opener with one or zero hits. Mariners ace Felix Hernandez issued three of his five walks in a three-run fifth inning.
2
Home runs by Colorado Rockies rookie Trevor Story, who became the first player in major league history to hit multiple home runs in his big league debut on opening day. They both came off Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke — a three-run shot in the third inning and a solo home run in the fourth.
2
Players with their first big-league hits in the Baltimore Orioles’ 3-2 win vs. the Minnesota Twins. Rule V pick Joey Rickard singled in his first at-bat for Baltimore, while South Korean star Byung Ho Park singled in his second plate appearance and was hit by a pitch in his third.
3
Consecutive home runs by Denard Span, Joe Panik and Buster Posey, off Milwaukee Brewers reliever Ariel Pena in the eighth inning of the San Francisco Giants’ 12-3 victory. Span and Duffy combined for nine RBI. Pena became the first reliever in MLB history to allow three home runs on Opening Day.
4
Career opening-day homers by Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, who homered in his first at-bat vs. the Atlanta Braves’ Julio Teheran.
6
Baserunners allowed in the eighth inning by three Philadelphia Phillies relievers as the Cincinnati Reds rallied for five runs to win their traditional home opener 6-2.
7
Earned runs given up in four innings of work by Zack Greinke in his Arizona Diamondbacks debut. Greinke did not give up his seventh earned run until his sixth start of 2015 with the Dodgers.
8
Spot in the lineup where pitchers Bumgarner of the Giants and Joel Peralta of the Brewers batted. It was the first time both managers batted the pitcher eighth on Opening Day.
9
Strikeouts by Clayton Kershaw, in seven innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the San Diego Padres. Kershaw becomes the second pitcher with nine strikeouts and no more than one hit allowed on Opening Day, joining Lon Warneke (13 K, H) in 1934.
15
Margin of victory for the Dodgers over the Padres, possibly the most lopsided opening day shutout in modern major league history. The previous mark was a 14-0 win by the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Cincinnati Reds in 1911, according to STATS.
