Expos hand Marlins a loss in quirky Montreal reunion

MONTREAL -- The Expos made their fans forget about extinction and feel some excitement.

Down to their last out in what might've been their final season opener, the Expos rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and beat the Marlins on Orlando Cabrera's single.

A crowd of 34,351 cheered loudly after Jose Vidro tied it with a two-out, two-run single and Cabrera won it.

While Cabrera was mobbed by his teammates, new manager Frank Robinson wildly waved his hat to the fans and gave them a big thumbs-up.

The Expos survived baseball's plan to eliminate them during the winter, but poor support is likely to doom them beyond this, their 34th season in Montreal.

Jeff Torborg, who managed Montreal for the final four months of the 2001 season, moved from the Expos to Florida less than a week before spring training. He changed jobs when Jeffrey Loria sold the Expos to major league baseball and bought the Marlins.

Diamondbacks 9, Padres 0

PHOENIX -- Curt Schilling picked up where Randy Johnson left off by throwing seven scoreless innings and Damian Miller hit a grand slam as the Diamondbacks beat the Padres.

Schilling, 26-6 last season counting his 4-0 postseason mark, struck out nine, allowed six hits and didn't walk a batter one night. In Monday's opener, Johnson fanned eight and threw a six-hitter in a 2-0 shutout.

Brewers 9, Astros 3

HOUSTON -- The name Enron was gone from the ballpark. As far as the Houston Astros were concerned, hitting and pitching were missing, too.

Ben Sheets struck out a career-high eight, and Richie Sexson, Tyler Houston and Jose Hernandez drove in two runs each to lead the Brewers to a season-opening win over the Houston Astros.

Wade Miller, who won his final seven decisions last season and had been 7-0 against Milwaukee, made his first opening-day start and left in the fifth inning after consecutive homers by Sexson and Geoff Jenkins. Alex Ochoa also homered for the Brewers, in the eighth off Scott Linebrink.

-- From wire reports