Cirillo plays well in opening day

[RockSports17]

MLB.com: Surprisingly, Cirillo plays well in opening day

PITTSBURGH -- In January, Jeff Cirillo was burning up the Brewers' phone lines, virtually begging for an invitation to Spring Training. On Monday, it was Cirillo -- not Wes Helms or Russell Branyan -- serving as Milwaukee's Opening Day third baseman.

"He came into camp and earned his way back to the big leagues," manager Ned Yost said of Cirillo, who started his first game for the Brewers since 1999. "This ain't no story. He showed us that he's still a viable Major League player."

With left-hander Oliver Perez starting for the Pirates, Yost planned to tab a right-handed hitter to play third base. That excluded Branyan and presumably gave the leg-up to Helms, a Yost favorite from their days in Atlanta. Helms hit 23 home runs in 2003, but slipped off dramatically in 2004, when he missed six weeks with a knee injury.

Hopefully Cirillo keeps it up.

[MarinersFan87]

Don't be fooled, Cirillo still sucks.

[BMW]

We'll see about that. He may well still not have his bat completely, but then again, the only place he ever really had it, was in Milwaukee.
BW