CHICAGO — Same ol’ Cubbies. Same old Cardinals, too. ADVERTISING CHICAGO — Same ol’ Cubbies. Same old Cardinals, too. At least for one game. Adam Wainwright threw six sharp innings to outpitch Jon Lester, and St. Louis handed new Chicago
CHICAGO — Same ol’ Cubbies. Same old Cardinals, too.
At least for one game.
Adam Wainwright threw six sharp innings to outpitch Jon Lester, and St. Louis handed new Chicago manager Joe Maddon a 3-0 loss Sunday night in the major league opener.
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.
Playing their most anticipated opener in years, the Cubs went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
Lester was pulled with one out in the fifth inning on a chilly evening. The ace left-hander, who got a $155 million, six-year contract from Chicago during free agency, allowed three runs and eight hits in his fifth straight opening day start.
The addition of Lester and Maddon ramped up the expectations for Chicago after five straight losing seasons. But it was more of the same in their first game.
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.
Big Island native Kolten Wong played second and batted eighth. He walked once and scored a run.
