Each NL team is represented below, marked by a not-so-subtle nod to the general managers we focus so much of our site's attention towards and our namesake. The Brian Sabean ? Andrew Baggerly of the Mercury News: "Confidence is useful in other ways, too. The Giants were brimming with it before, during and after their 10-4 victory over the Houston Astros completed a three-game sweep. The Giants stormed out of the gate with a sweep for the first time since 2003, when they ended up with a 100-61 record." The Ned Colletti ? Eric Stephen of True Blue LA: "The Dodgers gave up just 11 three-run home runs in 2009, but have already given up two this season: one to Ryan Doumit on Monday, and one to Garrett Jones last night." The Dan O'Dowd ? Troy Renck of the Denver Post: "This is the kind of baseball that got Clint Hurdle fired. The Rockies lost a game 5-4 Wednesday afternoon ? dropping the opening series to the Milwaukee Brewers because of a little bit of everything. "We have to play better," owner Dick Monfort said." The Josh Byrnes ? Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic: "Right-hander Ian Kennedy's line was the same as fellow newcomer Edwin Jackson's from the previous night: three runs allowed in five innings on 94 pitches. But Kennedy's evening felt a lot more in control as the Padres did all of their damage on one swing by Scott Hairston in the second inning. But Kennedy pitched pretty well outside of the second. He allowed just two hits after the Hairston home run and finished with eight strikeouts." The Jed Hoyer ? Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "After batting .204 with no home runs in spring training, Adrian Gonzalez homered in each of his first two games of the regular season.. ?The biggest difference between now and spring training is the video,? he said pointing to the screens and equipment run by Padres video coordinator Mike Tompkins. ?I never look at tape during spring training,? continued Gonzalez. ?During the season, I?ll spend 20 to 30 minutes every afternoon studying the opposing pitcher and creating a game plan. I?ll take a look at everything available to see. It?s preparation, all on the mental intensity side. I was taking it easy this spring. Sometimes I went up there just to take and watch pitches. Other times I went up to swing. I was taking it easy in spring training.? " The Doug Melvin ? Kyle Lobner of Brew Crew Ball: "Doug Davis was off today, allowing four earned runs on six hits and three walks and lasting just four innings, needing 88 pitches to do so. The Brewer bullpen picked him up, though, getting five shutout innings from Todd Coffey (who pitched the fifth and sixth to pick up the win), Chris Narveson, Mitch Stetter, Carlos Villanueva, LaTroy Hawkins and Trevor Hoffman, who picked up his 593rd carer save." The Jim Hendry ? Joe Aiello of View From The Bleachers: "Tough for (Ryan Dempster) to not get a win after the game he pitched, but that?s how this game works. His only blemish, that took place in the 2nd when Jason Heyward doubled in Brian McCann, could have been avoided if Mike Fontenot holds on to the baseball on the stolen base attempt by McCann. The throw by Geo was on the money and Fontenot brought the glove down to apply the tag in time. Unfortunately the force of the slide knocked the ball out and kept the inning alive for Heyward to give the Braves the lead. Aside from that, Dempster was pretty darn good with 9 K?s in six innings of work. He completely baffled Troy Glaus, who started to hear the boo birds when he tried on his golden sombrero. The Walt Jocketty ? John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer: "(Logan) Ondrusek came in to face Brendan Ryan and get the right-hander-on-right-handed hitter matchup. Ondrusek walked him on four pitches. Not what you want to do with the most dangerous man in baseball ? Pujols ? on deck. ?I was throwing sinkers in to Ryan,? Ondrusek said. ?They were a little too much down in the zone in the dirt. Instead of taking a deep breath and staying back, I wanted to make him swing but I buried everything.? ?Big Ondrusek?s been throwing the ball great,? Reds manager Dusty Baker said. ?But he walked the shortstop ahead of Albert. That happens and you?re asking for trouble.? The John Mozeliak ? Dan of Viva El Birdos: "What had Colby Rasmus done after two games last year? Shockingly enough, given the composition of the rest of the year, he'd already walked three times?three times more than he would in all of June, the same as in all of May?and scored twice on two base hits. At close of last April it seemed like his batting line was designed expressly to be built upon?.254/.357/.305, the advanced plate discipline in place a little ahead of the advanced power in translating from scout-speak to the statistical record." The Ed Wade ? Austin Swafford of Astros 290 Blog: "(The Astros) finally scored against a starting pitcher.? Until the fourth inning yesterday, starting pitchers had gone 16 straight innings without allowing a run to the Astros. But even that run was unearned.? Starters managed to go 19 innings without allowing an earned run to the Astros.. Still, even with the somewhat resurgent offense yesterday, the Astros had five innings in which they went down in order.? Houston?s 2-3-4 hitters (Kaz Matsui, Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee) went hitless today, combining to go 0-for-12 with three strikeouts and one run (Pence as the unearned run in the 4th inning)." The Neal Huntington ? Charlie of Bucs Dugout: "When you're up three runs after three batters against Clayton Kershaw, you know things are going well. Akinori Iwamura started the game with a walk, and then Andrew McCutchen singled, and then came Garrett Jones, who continued his amazing run with a three-run homer that landed a couple rows into the stands in right-center." The Frank Wren ? Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Opening Day was the first wave, but sometimes Opening Days deceive. Wednesday night offered something approaching proof: The team that had become uncool is hot again. Jason Heyward has lit a fuse. ?I was here in 1991,? said Terry Pendleton, who wasn?t only here but was the National League MVP in the dizzying year the Braves went from last in the NL West to the 10th inning of Game 7 in the Metrodome. ?And I couldn?t feel the buzz [for the 1992 opener] the way I could the other day. As a player and as a coach, I?ve never seen it like that.? " The Omar Minaya ? Alex Nelson of Amazin Avenue: "John Maine really didn't show a whole lot. He immediately struggled, giving up a double to Cameron Maybin, who came around to score on a Hanley Ramirez single. Maine was strangely reliant on his offspeed stuff in the opening frame, and he showed little command over his fastball. And he was his usual inefficient self right from the get-go, requiring well over 20 pitches to get through that rocky first. He settled down and found his fastball in the second, but the top of the Marlins order wasn't fooled in the third. Jorge Cantu hit a homerun, Dan Uggla walked, advancing to second on a wild pitch before coming around to score on John Baker's single. Ramirez tacked on another run with a homer in the fifth. Jenrry Mejia, making his major league debut, followed Maine, allowing one run in one inning of work. The Marlins hitters really didn't have much trouble catching up to his heat." The Ruben Amaro ? David Murpy of the Philadelphia Daily News: "While (Cole) Hamels didn't look like the pitcher who allowed one run in 15 innings in his combined 2007 and 2008 debuts, his performance was a marked improvement over 2009. Last year, after a hectic offseason that led to a sluggish spring training, Hamels found himself lacking his usual arm strength. In his debut, he allowed seven runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Rockies while topping out in the high-80s on the radar gun.. Perhaps the most interesting facet of his performance was his use of his cutter, a pitch that he began throwing in earnest only this offseason. An unofficial tally had Hamels throwing 13 cutters, 11 for strikes. Desmond made solid contact on a cutter in the fourth inning for an RBI double, but it appeared to be the lone hiccup. Hamels recorded three outs on the pitch, including a groundout in the third inning that shattered the bat of Mike Morse. Hamels threw his curveball, a pitch the Phillies do not want him to abandon, five times. None of them went for a strike." The Larry Beinfest ? Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald: "Over the winter, the Marlins traded Matt Lindstrom to the Houston Astros for a couple of low-level minor leaguers and a Rule 5 pick -- Jorge Jiminez -- who failed to stick and was returned to his original club, the Boston Red Sox. They chose not to re-sign Kiko Calero, who is starting the season in the Mets farm system. They also chose not to re-sign Brendan Donnelly, who landed with the Pirates. They signed a handful of relievers to minor-league deals as non-roster invites to spring training, hoping somebody would emerge. Mike MacDougal didn't make it. Derrick Turnbow didn't make it. Seth McClung didn't make it. Veras did, but the former Yankees reliever was all over the place on Wednesday, as were Pinto and Nunez. Those three relievers delivered 82 pitches, only 40 of which were strikes. The Mike Rizzo ? Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post: "Jason Marquis fits the same profile of all the other players the Washington Nationals spent their winter stockpiling. They wanted established veterans, reliable warhorses who could, in General Manager Mike Rizzo's term, "change a culture." Marquis, for example, could help anchor their pitching staff. No longer would they need worry about a No. 2 starter who, say, hits the showers without recording an out past the fourth inning. They added Marquis to stabilize the top of their starting rotation, to add legitimacy to a staff long carried by callow starters. In his first try, Marquis delivered a dispiriting and familiar performance. In four-plus innings, he Marquis allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks, including the two-run home run by Ryan Howard that ended his outing and, basically, decided the game before it was halfway over." Click here to follow Chris Reina's Twitter feed. Click here to read Thursday's American League edition of Scoop