After watching the Opening Day festivities from afar over the years, Mike Leake was finally able to enjoy it while wearing the Birds on the Bat.

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“Yeah, it was a great time,” said Leake after Monday’s game. “This has always been one of the top Opening Days in all of baseball–it’s great to be a part of it now.”

Besides the festivities and then victory over Milwaukee, it also marked one day closer for Leake to return to the mound himself.

“I’m pretty eager,” he said. “Obviously, the first one didn’t go as we would like.”

An extended first inning ran up his pitch count as Leake allowed four runs in 4.1 innings pitched against Pittsburgh in his first start.

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“It was–it wasn’t what I wanted,” he continued. “But I do look forward to this next one and giving the team a chance to do what we would like to do and win.”

Leake is 2-4 in 10 career starts against Milwaukee. He faced them only once last year (0-1), allowing three runs in 6.0 innings with Cincinnati.

photo credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports