By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

All Dave Miley's spring training talk of fundamentals came off as quaint. Until Reds pitcher Cory Lidle came to the plate in the third inning Monday.

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In his first National League at-bat, facing Kerry Wood, Lidle laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt, moving over two runners who would subsequently score.

It was the first echo of Camp Miley's mission statement.

"That's what we did in spring training - got back to fundamentals," catcher Jason LaRue said of Lidle's bunt. "We've got to do that to give us a chance to win."

Monday was Miley's first Opening Day as Reds manager and the official beginning of his reign. He held an interim label the final 57 games of last season.

After being handed control in December, he began to shape the way these Reds will play.

"A lot of positive things happened today," Miley said after the 7-4 loss to the Cubs. "... We did some good things we stressed in spring training."

The Reds, unsound fundamentally last season, looked sharp Monday. They had some nice defensive plays, including a stunning 8-2-5 double play after a Moises Alou single, and only Adam Dunn's misplay of a fly ball kept them from being errorless. Lidle, who had just 16 at-bats in his career, rewarded Miley's emphasis on bunting with his successful sacrifice.

The Reds had just one extra-base hit Monday, a Sean Casey double, and will need ways to generate runs besides hitting homers. Leadoff hitter D'Angelo Jimenez reached base four times Monday. Utility man Ryan Freel capitalized after reaching base on a dropped third strike by stealing a base and scoring.

"We're stressing getting guys in scoring position, moving runners over," Freel said.

Describing how his team played, Miley three times used the word "battled."

Not coincidentally, Freel, LaRue, Austin Kearns and Barry Larkin all repeated that word in separate interviews. That's the way Miley demands this team play.

"We've got a team full of grinders that battle," Kearns said. "That's what we've got to do to be successful."

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E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com