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Big League Stew - MLB

Big League Stew

Thu Mar 31 07:16pm EDT

The Brewers’ start was just a wee bit better than their finish

By 'Duk

The Milwaukee Brewers chose to go with the good news first on Thursday's opening day, watching as their first two batters made history with two swings of the bat in the first inning.

Unfortunately, that also meant they had to get the bad news last, slinking off the field when Cincinnati's Ramon Hernandez(notes) hit a three-run, opposite-field homer off Brewers closer John Axford(notes) with two outs in the ninth inning. The shot was the sixth of the game and it gave the Reds a shocking 7-6 walkoff win over Milwaukee at Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark.

As my Brewer fan friend lamented in the immediate aftermath:

"I can't even stay excited about this team for more than three hours."

But hey! At least the Brewers were able to notch a historical rarity when second baseman Rickie Weeks(notes) led off the game with a homer and center fielder Carlos Gomez(notes) hit one into the upper deck two pitches later. It was the first time in 42 years that a team had its first two batters hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the season.

"I've never seen an opening day like that," said Reds manager Dusty Baker. "I've seen a guy hit a homer to start the game, but I've never seen the first two guys hit homers."

Even wilder: Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose was in the stands to watch the feat. That's notable because ol' Chuck Hustle and Bobby Tolan were the last duo to achieve the feat when they led off opening day 1969 with back-to-back homers off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale.

Good thing Pete wore something festive to celebrate the occasion.

MORE: Atlanta's Jason Heyward also made home run history on Thursday

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