Opening day is finally upon us.  Although the day was disappointing as the Chicago Cubs started off the season on a down note, it's great to have baseball back.  With that, the GNUru is here to share the top headlines from Opening Day 2007! 

Observations from Opening Day
It's often said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. If that's the case, Ken Rosenthal says Alex Rodriguez may be in for a big season and Gil Meche was worth every penny the Royals paid for the pitcher.

Sparkling start for Hernandez
Younger and slimmer was certainly better for the Seattle Mariners - for one, promising day, anyway. Felix Hernandez, the 20-year-old would-be phenom who has lost 20 pounds since a disappointing 2006 season, thoroughly dominated the defending AL West champion Oakland Athletics in a 4-0 victory Monday. The youngest opening day pitcher in the major leagues in 22 years allowed three hits and struck out a career-high 12 in eight innings.

Royals leave Sox all Meched up
All those critics who said Kansas City overpaid for Gil Meche will be hard to find now. In his first start since signing a five-year, $55 million contract, the right-hander outdueled a shaky Curt Schilling on Monday and pitched the Royals to a 7-1 opening day victory over Boston. The right-hander, being counted on to improve the worst pitching staff in the majors, went 7 1-3 innings and gave up one run on six hits, with one walk and six strikeouts.

Sheets dominant in first start
Ben Sheets started the season in dominating style. Sheets gave up an early home run, then retired his next 22 batters in a two-hitter Monday that led the Milwaukee Brewers over the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-1 in their opener. Sheets allowed Jeff Kent's homer leading off the second and Brady Clark's double with one out in the ninth.

Yankees rally past Rays in opener
On an emotional opening day, the New York Yankees got big hits from Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez - and even a few encouraging innings from Carl Pavano. The oft-injured Pavano pitched his first major league game since June 2005 and Giambi hit a go-ahead single in the seventh for his third RBI, leading New York past the baby-faced Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9-5 Monday.

Tribune, Cubs sold for $8.2 billion
Tribune Co. has accepted a buyout offer from real estate investor Sam Zell in a deal valued at about $8.2 billion, the media company said Monday. Tribune said Zell plans to invest $315 million in the deal and the company will sell the Chicago Cubs baseball team at the end of this season. Zell will eventually become chairman of the Chicago-based media company's board when the deal is complete.

Dunn powers Reds past Cubs
Adam Dunn still looks more like the Bambino than Ichiro. Trying to merely put the ball in play, Dunn homered in his first two at-bats on Monday, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-1, opening-day victory over the Chicago Cubs. While Dunn quickly got away from trying to make contact like Seattle's slap-hitting Ichiro Suzuki, right-hander Aaron Harang had his way with a Cubs lineup that got an offseason infusion of cash and power in the offseason, allowing only one unearned run in seven innings.

Renteria homers twice in Braves win
Edgar Renteria showed he's a better hitter than bunter. After twice failing to execute a sacrifice, Renteria ripped his second homer - a two-run shot - in the 10th inning to lead the Atlanta Braves over the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 in the season opener Monday. Renteria's solo shot off starter Brett Myers with two outs in the eighth inning tied it at 3. John Smoltz went six innings, Bob Wickman (1-0) pitched out of a jam in the ninth and Chad Paronto tossed a scoreless 10th for the save.

Cy Young winner, MVP lift Twins over O's
The MVP came through for the Cy Young winner. That's the advantage Minnesota has with more than one star. Justin Morneau went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, helping the Twins survive an underwhelming outing by Johan Santana in a 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Monday night's season opener. Torii Hunter also drove in two runs, including his homer on the next pitch from Erik Bedard that followed Morneau's shot in the second inning.

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