Jason Heyward ready to play

Jason Heyward hit like The Hammer in his Atlanta Braves debut.

Minutes after catching the ceremonial first pitch from Hank Aaron, Heyward hit a three-run homer in his first major league at-bat to spark the Braves to a 16-5 opening win Monday over Carlos Zambrano and the Chicago Cubs.

Heyward, who had a run-scoring single in the eighth, was 2-for-5 with four RBIs.

Yunel Escobar drove in a career-high five runs as Zambrano gave up eight runs in 1 1-3 innings, matching the shortest of 239 career starts.

With fans in the sellout crowd chanting "Let's go, Heyward," the rookie's first-inning homer into the Braves' bullpen behind the right-field wall gave Atlanta a 6-3 lead.