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.

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

Pitchers' duel dies in the desert  —  Phoenix - The anticipated pitchers' duel in the desert turned into a slugfest today at Chase Field.  —  Rockies ace Aaron Cook got the hook with just one out in the third inning, after throwing only 55 pitches.  Cook gave up six runs on seven hits, including two homers.

Why baseball benched Microsoft Silverlight  —  The thwacking sounds of bats striking balls will once again fill stadiums, as Monday is opening day for Major League Baseball.  This year, Microsoft will watch from the sidelines.  —  MLB.com no longer uses Microsoft's Silverlight to stream games to its 500,000 subscribers.

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.”

Joe West replaces John Hirschbeck as umpires' president  —  NEW YORK — Joe West, who worked his first major league game in 1976 and later lost his job in a contract dispute with baseball, has become president of the World Umpires Association.  —  West beat out longtime head John Hirschbeck in the February election.

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 …

Bonifacio makes history with inside-the-park HR … MIAMI (AP) -Emilio Bonifacio has hit the first opening-day inside-the-park homer in the major leagues in 41 years.  —  The Florida Marlins' new third baseman and leadoff batter hit a drive over the head of center fielder Lastings Milledge …

Rangers beat Cliff Lee, Indians in opener  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers can still hit.  Cliff Lee can attest to that.  —  The AL Cy Young Award winner allowed seven runs and 10 hits in five innings, including Hank Blalock's three-run homer, and the Rangers routed the Cleveland Indians 9-1 Monday in their season opener.

Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Brewers  —  Next up in our Offseason In Review series, the Brewers.  Here's what we wrote about them on October 16th.  Changes for 2009:  —  Additions: Trevor Hoffman, Braden Looper, Jorge Julio, R.J. Swindle, Chase Wright, Craig Counsell (re-signed) …

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.

The last 40-man move: Dodgers release Greg Miller  —  They might re-sign him to a minor-league contract over the next couple of days if he willing to accept such a deal, so they haven't officially given up on him.  But they needed a roster spot, and it didn't make much sense for a pitcher …