WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama was high and wide. Roy Halladay was right on target — as always.
The Phillies backed their new ace with plenty of power, too.
Placido Polanco hit a grand slam, Ryan Howard also homered, and Halladay struck out nine over seven innings in his National League debut as the Phillies opened the season Monday afternoon with an 11-1 rout of the Washington Nationals.
The centerpiece of the Phillies’ drive for a third straight World Series appearance, Halladay (1-0) allowed one run and six hits and settled down to dominate after the Nationals scored in the first. Ivan Rodriguez doubled to lead off the second, but Halladay then faced the minimum number of batters — with help from a pair of double plays — until the seventh, when he worked out of a two-on, one-out jam.
John Lannan (0-1), the Nationals’ opening day starter for the second year in a row, lasted only 3 2-3 innings, allowing five runs and seven hits with three walks and no strikeouts.
Cardinals 11, Reds 6
CINCINNATI — Albert Pujols and his St. Louis Cardinals didn’t need much help from Big Mac.
The National League’s MVP went 4 for 5 and hit two of a team-record four homers on opening day Monday.
Yadier Molina completed the Cardinals’ first four-homer opening game with a grand slam in the ninth. Only two other Cardinals have hit slams in season openers — Scott Rolen and Mark McGwire.
Big Mac has returned to baseball as the Cardinals’ batting instructor this season, acknowledging that he used steroids when he broke the home run record in 1998.
On his second swing of the season, Pujols drove a 2-2 pitch from Aaron Harang (0-1) into the Reds’ bullpen area in left-center.
Chris Carpenter (1-0) had only one shaky inning out of his six on a sunny, 78-degree afternoon. Joey Votto and Rolen hit solo homers in the fourth off Carpenter, who gave up only seven homers last season, when he led the NL with a 2.24 ERA.
Rockies 5, Brewers 3
MILWAUKEE — Ubaldo Jimenez stayed out of big trouble with his 99 mph fastball and Ian Stewart homered on his birthday.
Jimenez gave up a run and struck out six in six innings. The Rockies won the matchup between the last two NL wild-card teams.
The 26-year-old Jimenez (1-0) became the first Rockies starter to win on opening day in six years.
Milwaukee got the tying run to the plate in the ninth after a shaky outing by Franklin Morales, but he held on for the save with Colorado closer Huston Street on the disabled list.
Stewart, celebrating his 25th birthday, hit a solo homer off Yovani Gallardo (0-1). Carlos Gomez also homered in his Milwaukee debut.
Pirates 11, Dodgers 5
PITTSBURGH — Garrett Jones homered in his first two at-bats, pinch-hitter Ryan Church doubled home three runs and Pittsburgh started the new season the way it wound down 2009 by roughing up the Dodgers.
The Pirates, coming off a record-setting 17th consecutive losing season, won on opening day for the fourth season in a row as Ryan Doumit added a three-run homer in the eighth off reliever George Sherrill. Doumit also doubled and scored twice.
The Pirates were forced to yank starter Zach Duke (1-0) in the fifth after only 79 pitches because they are batting the pitcher eighth. He gave up two runs on seven hits over five innings.
Vicente Padilla (0-1) gave up seven runs and six hits in 4 1-3 innings for his first loss with Los Angeles.
Mets 7, Marlins 1
NEW YORK — David Wright hit a two-run homer, Johan Santana pitched six effective innings and the Mets finally solved Josh Johnson.
Newcomers Jason Bay, Rod Barajas and Gary Matthews Jr. each got two hits for New York, which improved to a major league-best 32-17 (.653) on opening day.
Manager Jerry Manuel also got three scoreless innings from his beleaguered bullpen, which he said was his biggest concern entering the season.
Cameron Maybin struck out swinging three times and Florida committed three errors during the Mets’ four-run sixth.
Johnson allowed four runs and five hits over five-plus innings in his first opening-day start, dropping to 7-1 with a 2.69 ERA in 10 career starts against New York. Cameron Maybin struck out swinging three times and Florida committed three errors during the Mets’ four-run sixth.
Braves 16, Cubs 5
ATLANTA — Not long after catching the ceremonial first pitch from Hank Aaron, Jason Heyward hit a three-run homer in his first major league.
Heyward, who had a run-scoring single in the eighth, was 2-for-5 with four RBIs.
Yunel Escobar drove in a career-high five runs as Zambrano gave up eight runs in 1 1-3 innings, matching the shortest of 239 career starts.
With fans in the sellout crowd chanting “Let’s go, Heyward,” the rookie’s first-inning homer into the Braves’ bullpen behind the right-field wall gave Atlanta a 6-3 lead.
Giants 5, Astros 2
HOUSTON — Tim Lincecum pitched seven scoreless innings and San Francisco beat Roy Oswalt and Houston.
Lincecum (1-0) allowed four hits and struck out seven with no walks to shut down a Houston offense that started the season with star slugger Lance Berkman on the disabled list.
The Giants got a boost from new left fielder Mark DeRosa, who scored in San Francisco’s three-run second inning and added a solo homer in the eighth.
Oswalt (0-1) allowed seven hits and three runs in six innings as he extended his team record to eight straight opening day starts.
Diamondbacks 6, Padres 3
PHOENIX — Stephen Drew hit an inside-the-park home run and Dan Haren held San Diego to three hits in seven innings.
For the second year in a row, someone hit an inside-the-park homer on opening day — former Diamondbacks player Emilio Bonifacio did it for the Florida Marlins last year, which was the first one after 41 years.
Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer, the only earned runs among the six given up by San Diego starter Jon Garland (0-1).
Haren (1-0) allowed one run and struck out four without a walk. He threw 20 of 24 first-pitch strikes and had a three-ball count against only one batter.
Adrian Gonzalez and Kyle Blanks hit consecutive two-out homers off Bob Howry in the ninth for San Diego.
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