Today was opening day for the Cincinnati Reds and what a game it was! They beat the New York Mets 7-6 on a walk-off home run by Joe Rando in front of the largest crowd in Great American Ball Park’s short history.

For the most part, it seems the team has picked up where they left off last year, for the good and the bad.

Last year, the Reds struckout more than any other team in the league, and today they had 16 strikeouts. Granted, it was against Pedro Martinez, one of the better pitchers in the game, but that’s still a too many.

Last year, Adam Dunn did two things very well - hit homeruns and strikeout. He set the major league record for strikeouts in one season with 190, but did end up with 46 homeruns. And today, whaddya know, he struck out twice and hit two homeruns! I’ll take the strikeouts as long as he keeps hitting those homers when we need them.

We also had some problems with our bullpen last year, namely with the setup guys. Same problem so far this year. The game was tied at 3 when the bullpen took over. They gave up 3 runs in the 7th, giving the Mets a 6-3 lead. Though we have more veterans on the staff this year, they sure didn’t show it today.

Danny Graves ranked near the top of the majors through most of last year, finishing with 41. He did well in that role today, pitching a perfect 9th inning.

The season is just starting, but I’m glad that we got off on the right foot. It’s gonna be a tough year, since we’ve got some great teams in our division - the Cardinals, Cubs, and Astros - but I think we’ll be competitive most of the season. I’m worried about the stretch run, though, and if our starting pitching will hold up. Either way, we’ve got a great team with some really all-around nice guys, and should have fun. Go Reds!