Braves dominate Phillies in season opener  —  Lowe pitched eight scoreless innings; McCann, Francoeur and rookie Schafer homer  —  Philadelphia — Yes, it was only the first game of 162.  But on Sunday night, the Braves provided a few reasons to believe things might be different this season.

Opener postponed until tomorrow  —  Due to a forecast of heavy rain in the Boston area, today's Red Sox-Rays season opener at Fenway Park has been postponed to tomorrow at 4:05 p.m.  —  “All of the festivities surrounding Opening Day will take place tomorrow,” Red Sox president Larry Lucchino confirmed …

A-ROD RETURN MAY NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MAY  —  BALTIMORE — Forget mid-May.  Alex Rodriguez is showing signs he is going to return to the Yankees well before that.  —  Hitting coach Kevin Long, who speaks daily with A-Rod, told The Post that Rodriguez has begun to hit and reported that he “feels 70 percent.”

Incredible shrinking payroll: 14 of 30 MLB teams cut back  —  Fourteen of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball will have a lower opening-day payroll than a year ago, according to USA TODAY's annual salary survey.  —  Ten of the 14 teams are cutting their 25-man-roster budget by at least $10 million.

Minor League Transactions  —  This time: March 31-April 3 … Arizona Diamondbacks  —  Signed: RHP Bobby Korecky, LHP Travis Blackley  —  Released: RHP Adam Howard, RHP A.J. Shappi, LHP Eddie Romero, C Richard Mercado, C Bill Musselman, 3B Steve Mena, 3B Cesar Nicolas, OF Frank Curreri, OF Jimmy Principe

What's cooking  —  Is faith in Murphy a sign of organizational enlightenment?  —  It's Opening Day and I'm revved up.  —  There's all the usual Christmas-in-April stuff, complete with a sleepless Sunday night spent wondering what the 2009 baseball season has in store for my Flushing Nine …

Peavy likely will be gone if Padres get off to bad start  —  The backdrop to a Padres season that begins today at Petco Park is that if the team falls out of playoff contention, Jake Peavy could be traded before or shortly after the All-Star break, perhaps to the Dodgers club that opposes Peavy this afternoon.

Surprise?  Stewart gets opening-day start  —  Phoenix — Looking for maximum firepower - as well as another left-handed bat in the lineup against Diamondbacks ace sinkerballer Brandon Webb - Ian Stewart gets the start at second base in today's season-opener.  He replaces usual second baseman Clint Barmes.

Game 1: Yankees at Orioles  —  Pitching: 52.  Carsten Charles Sabathia LHP  —  ORIOLES (0-0)  —  1. Brian Roberts 2B  —  10. Adam Jones CF  —  21. Nick Markakis RF  —  6. Melvin Mora 3B  —  17. Aubrey Huff 1B  —  23. Ty Wigginton DH  —  30. Luke Scott LF  —  9. Gregg Zaun C

Astros eager to open at home, face Cubs' Zambrano  —  Club thinks this time it will be fair fight with Cubs' Zambrano  —  As Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano visits Minute Maid Park to start the 2009 season, it's impossible to forget he was part of the Astros' lowest point last year.

Yankees Rest Their Hope on the Singular Sabathia  —  With so much data in the annals of baseball, so many games and players and sets of skills, it is tempting to think everything can be quantified and each player can be compared with someone else.  —  It is rare to find an outlier, a player unlike any who has come before.

Pitching plans  —  The Sox were clearly prepared for this rainout.  They had already said that if today's game were postponed, they would flip-flop Josh Beckett and Brad Penny this weekend with the sudden need for a fifth starter.  —  So Penny will start on Saturday, with Beckett taking the finale of the series in Anaheim, Calif.

Acta announces starting lineup for Opening Day  —  About an hour after addressing his team, Nationals manager Manny Acta announced his starting lineup for Opening Day against the Marlins.  —  1. Lastings Milledge — CF  —  2. Cristian Guzman — SS  —  3. Ryan Zimmerman — 3B  —  4. Adam Dunn — LF

Madden: Lou's heart is always in the Bronx  —  It was hard to tell what impressed Lou Piniella more in his nostalgic two-day stop at his old South Bronx stomping grounds - the new Yankee Stadium or the Yankees themselves.  —  Sitting behind his desk in the new Stadium's visiting clubhouse Saturday morning …