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ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright delivered a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the third inning of a Sunday's Major League Baseball season-opening game in 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.
