RHP Jeremy Guthrie made his Rockies and National League debut and worked seven innings, allowing four hits and three runs, two on back-to-back solo homers by Carlos Lee and Brian Bogusevic to lead off the fourth. Guthrie became the first Rockies starter to pitch seven innings on Opening Day since 2006 when RHP Jason Jennings gave up one run in seven innings against the Diamondbacks in Colorado’s 3-2 win in 11 innings. The only Rockies starters to go more than seven innings on Opening Day were RHP Pedro Astacio, who worked 7 1/3 innings in 2000 at Atlanta and LHP Mike Hampton, who pitched 8 1/3 innings in 2001 in his Rockies debut against the Cardinals. LHP Shawn Estes in 2004 and RHP Darryl Kile in 1998 also pitched seven innings in their Opening Day starts for the Rockies.
1B Todd Helton made his 15th straight Opening Day start all with the same team, the longest such streak among active major league players since Braves 3B Chipper Jones opened the season on the disabled list following knee surgery. With a run-scoring double in the third, Helton has hit safely in 13 consecutive Opening Day games, which is also the longest streak among active major leaguers. The double was No. 555 in Helton’s career, breaking a tie for 24th with Bobby Abreu and putting Helton five doubles behind Hall of Famer Eddie Murray and Jeff Kent, who are tied for 22nd with 560 doubles.
LHP Jamie Moyer will make his Rockies debut Saturday and needs one more victory to become the oldest pitcher to win a major-league game. Moyer will be 49 years, 141 days old Saturday when he takes the mound at Minute Maid Park against the Astros and pitches in a big-league game for the first time since July 20, 2010. He missed the 2011 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Dodgers was 49 years, 74 days when he pitched five shutout innings in relief on Sept. 13, 1932, in the first game of a doubleheader at Ebbets Field and beat the Cardinals.
SS Troy Tulowitzki, who drove in the Rockies’ first run with a sacrifice fly in the third, homered with two out in the ninth off LHP Fernando Abad to give the Rockies their two-run margin of victory. His first homer in 2011 also came off a LHP — Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers who went on to win the NL Cy Young Award — and came in his third game. Tulowitzki hit seven homers in his first 12 games last year, including four off LHPs, and finished with 30 homers.
