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Sheets tosses two-hitter in Brewers' opener

Apr 3, 2007 - 1:12 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Ben Sheets may have been suffering from Opening Day nerves. It sure did not look like it affected his performance.

Sheets pitched a two-hitter and Bill Hall homered as the Milwaukee Brewers cruised to a 7-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the season opener for both teams.

The 28-year-old righthander was superb, retiring 22 batters in a row after yielding a solo homer to Jeff Kent in the second inning. Former Brewer Brady Clark singled with one out in the ninth inning for the other Dodger hit.

"The first inning, there were a lot of emotions," Sheets said. "It's Opening Day. It was like I had a sumo wrestler in my belly. I was nervous. Kent's at-bat, I tried to bring myself back down. You can't pitch on emotion like that the whole game, and he got me. Once he got me, it helped me settle down. He hurt me in the at-bat, but it helped me settle down."

Limited to 39 starts over the last two years due to an assortment of injuries, Sheets (1-0) recorded the first Opening Day complete game for Milwaukee since Don August on April 3, 1989.

"It was nice to be on the other end of a performance like this," batterymate Johnny Estrada said. "It was special. I didn't realize how special it was until the ninth inning when I looked up and saw he had given up only one hit. What a way to start the season. He had all his pitches going and was attacking everybody."

It was the 12th career complete game for Sheets, who struck out three and walked none.

"We thought we could get to (Sheets) in the stretch, but that never happened," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He's got good stuff. Today, he was outstanding. His command, his stuff - the guy is not going to walk anybody. You better get after the first good (pitch) you get. He was very good out there today."

Coming off his breakout 35-homer campaign in 2006, Hall hit a solo shot in the sixth inning.

Estrada scored twice and J.J. Hardy had three hits as the two sparked a three-run fourth inning that broke open the game for the Brewers.

Derek Lowe (0-1) struggled in his third consecutive Opening Day start for Los Angeles. He went four innings and allowing six runs and eight hits with five walks.

After the Brewers scored once in each of the first three innings to open a 3-1 lead, they built a bigger cushion in the fourth.

Estrada started the uprising with an RBI single and Geoff Jenkins delivered a two-run double later in the frame. Hardy helped set things up in the inning with a one-out walk.

Hardy, who was limited to 35 games last season due to an ankle injury, went 3-for-4. The shortstop had an RBI single in the second inning, snapping a 1-1 tie.