"I knew that their pitcher was going to be their ace, Peavy, so I wanted to allow the least runs possible and I'm very glad that it turned out this way," Kuroda said through a translator.

The loss broke Peavy's 11-game winning streak against the Dodgers. He hadn't lost to his team's biggest rival since Sept. 13, 2003, during his first full big league season.

"That's as good of a lineup that you'll face - a little bit of everything," said Peavy, who is 13-2 lifetime against the Dodgers. "That's a team to be reckoned with."

Ramirez went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run on his first opening day with the Dodgers. Matt Kemp drove a 418-foot homer to straightaway center field off Peavy, and James Loney had three hits, including a two-run single.

The crowd of 45,496 was the largest in Petco Park's six-year history.

Kuroda held San Diego to four hits in 5 2-3 innings.

"It was great," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "Then you go out there and you score a couple runs in the first inning off Jake, that's not easy to do. He shut us down completely last year. You just feel when you score runs off him, that you have to win. It's not like you should win, but you have to win because you certainly don't do it that often."

Kuroda (1-0) gave up a run in the first inning, then allowed only one baserunner over the next four. The Padres finally chased him in the sixth after he allowed singles by David Eckstein and Brian Giles and walked Adrian Gonzalez to load the bases with two outs. Cory Wade came on and got Kevin Kouzmanoff to hit a weak grounder to the right side of the mound.

Jonathan Broxton, who threw a handful of 99 mph fastballs, pitched the ninth for the save.

Peavy (0-1) allowed four runs - three earned - and seven hits in seven innings while striking out eight and walking two.

Mets 2, Reds 1

At Cincinnati, Francisco Rodriguez and his fellow relievers protected a slim lead for Johan Santana, and New York held on for the win.

Daniel Murphy drove in both Mets runs with a homer off Aaron Harang (0-1) and a groundout.

Santana (1-0) went 5 2-3 innings, extending his streak without a loss since June 28. Sean Green, J.J. Putz and Rodriguez didn't allow a hit the rest of the way.

Rodriguez, who saved a major league-record 62 games for the Angels last season, retired all three in the ninth for his first save with New York.

Cubs 4, Astros 2

At Houston, Carlos Zambrano pitched into the seventh inning for his first opening-day win in five chances.

Zambrano (1-0) allowed one run and five hits over six-plus innings in his first start against the Astros since his no-hitter on Sept. 14 in Milwaukee. That game was played at Miller Park after Hurricane Ike damaged the Houston area.

Alfonso Soriano hit his 50th career leadoff home run and Aramis Ramirez also went deep against Oswalt (0-1).

Kevin Gregg worked a shaky ninth inning to earn the save.

Marlins 12, Nationals 6

At Miami, Emilio Bonifacio became a crowd favorite in his Marlins debut, hitting the majors' first inside-the-park homer on opening day since 1968 and going 4-for-5 against his former team.

Florida also hit three homers, including Hanley Ramirez's grand slam.

Bonifacio was summoned for a curtain call following his first big league homer, which landed short of the warning track but sailed over center fielder Lastings Milledge because he was playing so shallow.

The last inside-the-park home run on opening day was by Boston's Carl Yastrzemski on April 10, 1968.

Bonifacio stole three bases and scored four times. Ricky Nolasco (1-0) pitched six innings to win in his first opening-day start.

Nationals starter John Lannan (0-1) departed after three innings trailing 6-1.

Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 8

At Phoenix, Tony Clark and Arizona newcomer Felipe Lopez each homered from both sides of the plate to lead the Diamondbacks.

Eight home runs were hit in the game, including the decisive shot by Chad Tracy leading off the seventh against Jason Grilli (0-1).

Lopez and Clark became the first switch-hitting teammates to homer from both sides of the plate in a game since Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams did it for the New York Yankees on April 23, 2000. It had never been done on opening day.

Troy Tulowitzki, Chris Iannetta and Seth Smith hit solo homers for the Rockies.

Tony Pena (1-0) worked 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the win and Chad Qualls got the save.

Pirates 6, Cardinals 4

At St. Louis, Jack Wilson hit a three-run double with two outs to cap a four-run ninth inning off Cardinals rookie closer Jason Motte.

Ryan Ludwick broke a 2-all tie with a leadoff homer in the eighth off Tyler Yates, and David Freese added a sacrifice fly off John Grabow (1-0) for a 4-2 St. Louis lead.

Freddy Sanchez led off the ninth with a double against Motte (0-1). Adam LaRoche singled in a run with two outs, pinch-hitter Eric Hinske doubled LaRoche to third, Brandon Moss was hit by a pitch and Wilson doubled to left-center on an 0-2 fastball.

St. Louis didn't warm up anyone until after Wilson's hit.

Matt Capps pitched the ninth for a save.