Cubs' new manager, ace no match for Cards' old reliable in MLB opener

By foxsports
Published

 

The crowd roared for Joe Maddon, Jon Lester and the rest of the Chicago Cubs. There were more cheers for a tribute to Ernie Banks, and a hearty round of boos for the St. Louis Cardinals.

When the game started, it was the same ol' Cubbies. Same old Cardinals, too.

At least for one night.

Lester was chased in the fifth inning, and Adam Wainwright pitched the Cardinals to a 3-0 victory in the major league opener on Sunday.

"Just wasn't real sharp," Lester said. "Ball was flat. Anytime I get that many fly balls I know that I'm not where I need to be."

Jason Heyward had three hits in his St. Louis debut and Matt Holliday drove in two runs for the NL Central champions. Throw in Matt Carpenter's two hits at new-look Wrigley Field, and the top third of the Cardinals' lineup went 7 for 14 with three RBIs.

"Selfishly, I like the idea of hitting between those two," Heyward said. "Holly can do damage and Carp sees so many pitches and has good (at-bats). I'm going to be kind of spoiled hitting there."

Playing their most anticipated opener in years, the Cubs went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position. Lester, who got a $155 million, six-year contract during free agency, allowed three runs and eight hits over 4 1-3 innings in his fifth straight opening day start.

"He just really hasn't had a chance to nail everything down yet, I don't think," Maddon said. "Of course, I believe he will."

The addition of Lester to go along with Maddon in the dugout increased the expectations for Chicago after five straight losing seasons. But it was more of the same in their first game.

The biggest difference for the home team was a giant videoboard in left field, part of a major renovation for the iconic neighborhood ballpark. The closed bleachers were covered by pictures of Banks, a Hall of Fame slugger who played for Chicago for 19 seasons and died in January at age 83.

The Cubs honored Banks with a pregame moment of silence, and his sons Jerry and Joey Banks each threw out a ceremonial first pitch. The club also extended its condolences to the Cardinals for Oscar Taveras, an outfield prospect who died in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic last October.

Heyward got the majors' first hit of the season when he doubled and scored on Holliday's single in the first. Holliday had another RBI single in the fifth.

It was more than enough for Wainwright, who was slowed by an abdominal injury early in spring training, but looked just fine in his fourth opening day start. The 6-foot-7 right-hander made the most of umpire Mike Winters' wide strike zone, striking out six with no walks. He gave up all five Cubs hits.

"I was fortunate to throw some good pitches when I needed to throw some good pitches," Wainwright said.

Carlos Martinez, who won the fifth starter job in training camp, then worked the seventh for St. Louis. Jordan Walden got three outs before Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side for the save.

The shutout was sure to have some Cubs fans clamoring for Kris Bryant, the power-hitting prospect who recently was sent to the minors for more seasoning.

WASTED CHANCES

The Cubs put the leadoff hitter on in four of the first five innings, including three doubles. They left seven runners on base and struck out 12 times.

"I don't think there's any huge secret that you can tell a guy, `Hey just do this and you'll drive in runs,'" catcher David Ross said. "Yeah, we had some leadoff doubles tonight that we couldn't capitalize on, and hopefully as the season goes on we get better at that."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (shoulder inflammation) is expected to begin a throwing program in the next week or so, and general manager John Mozeliak said OF Tommy Pham (strained left quad) is scheduled to see a specialist on Monday. Garcia was competing for the fifth starter job before the injury. "I would say in the next week to two weeks we'll have a better idea of perhaps expected return or perhaps what a rehab assignment might look like," Mozeliak said. "But I would say it's still about 10 to 14 days away before we make that decision."

Cubs: OF Chris Denorfia (mild left hamstring strain), RHP Jacob Turner (right shoulder inflammation), RHP Dallas Beeler (right shoulder inflammation) and LHP Tsuyoshi Wada (mild left groin strain) were placed on the disabled list before the game. Each of the DL stints is retroactive to March 27.

UP NEXT

Following an off day on Monday, Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta gets the ball on Tuesday against Cardinals RHP Lance Lynn. Arrieta went 10-5 with a 2.53 ERA in 25 starts last year, and Lynn has won at least 15 games in each of the last three seasons.