ST.
Daryl Johnston Jersey . LOUIS -- Home opener
hoopla was no distraction at all for Michael Wacha. Neither was the 49-degree
chill for the first pitch. The 22-year-old rookie was definitely excited about
the occasion and the opportunity. Just like last fall when he was the breakout
pitching star of the post-season, he fed off the atmosphere. "Huge crowd out
there, a lot of energy," Wacha said after the St. Louis Cardinals beat the
Cincinnati Reds 5-3 on Monday. "Its a lot of fun pitching in front of your home
crowd, 40,000-plus fans. "I dont know who wouldnt thrive off those kind of
situations." Wacha outdid Tony Cingrani in a rematch of young power arms, and
the Cardinals got a three-run double from Yadier Molina in the first inning. "I
didnt have my fastball, so what are you going to do? I just tried to battle,"
Cingrani said. "One bad pitch and it cleared the bases." A standing-room crowd
of 47,492, the largest at 9-year-old Busch Stadium, braved daylong rain to greet
the National League champions and take a look at the new Ballpark Village.
Hundreds milled about the attached complex, which features five sports bars and
rooftop seating. The Cardinals bunched three hits and a walk over the first five
hitters to take the early lead against Cingrani (0-1), who allowed two hits in
seven scoreless innings against the Cardinals six days earlier in Cincinnati.
The Cards went 1 for 18 before adding RBIs from Matt Holliday and Allen Craig
off Trevor Bell in a two-run seventh. St. Louis ended a three-game losing streak
on opening day, including a blowout loss to the Reds last year. Wacha (1-0)
hadnt allowed a run in 21 career innings against the Reds before back-to-back
doubles by Brayan Pena and pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina in the fifth cut the
Cardinals lead to 3-1. The NL championship series MVP benefited from two
double-play balls in six stingy innings and has permitted one run in 13 2-3
innings his first two starts. Wacha threw 82 pitches before getting lifted for a
pinch hitter with the Cardinals up by two runs and two on in the sixth. St.
Louis manager Mike Matheny wanted to take a shot at putting the Reds away, but
thought the right-hander had plenty left. "That was more of a situation of whats
best for the day, whats best for that particular game," Matheny said. Cingrani
needed 31 pitches to get through the first and lasted four innings, striking out
five but walking four. Matheny said before the game that his hitters had been a
"click off" with timing against the 24-year-old lefty last week and should
benefit from another chance so soon. Pena said he wasnt trying to make excuses
but thought Cingrani was bothered by the elements. "The baseball was slippery.
He couldnt grab his breaking ball the way he wanted," Pena said. Peter Bourjos
moved up to second in the order and got his first two hits of the season after
an 0-for-13 start. Craig got his third hit and third RBI of the season after
entering 2 for 22. Seeing Wacha once again didnt do the Reds any good. Theyve
totalled 18 runs in seven games. "Right now, almost collectively, weve struggled
to do anything with guys in scoring position," Cincinnati manager Bryan Price
said. "But thatll change. Its tough to sit through it." The start of the game
was delayed 12 minutes after the inclement weather combined with pregame
ceremonies that featured the traditional grand entrance with players, coaches
and Hall of Famers touring Busch Stadium on the back of convertibles and trucks.
A team of Clydesdales was kept in the stable due to concerns the field might be
damaged. Billy Hamilton doubled to start the game and the Reds put the leadoff
man on base in the first four innings but were undone by two double plays.
Zack Cozart broke an 0-for-22 slump to start the season with a bloop RBI single,
and pinch-hitter Neftali Soto had a sacrifice fly for his first career RBI in
the ninth against St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal, who gave up his first runs
at home since Aug. 15 against Pittsburgh. The Cardinals opened the first with
singles by Matt Carpenter and Bourjos, and Holliday walked to load the bases
with none out. Craig struck out before Molina cleared the bases with a drive to
left-centre on a 1-2 pitch. NOTES: Lance Lynn (1-0, 5.40 ERA) opposes
Homer Bailey (0-1, 8.31) in the second game of the series, another rematch from
the season-opening series in Cincinnati. Lynn allowed three runs in five innings
and Bailey gave up four runs in 4 1-3 innings in St. Louis 7-6 win. ... The Reds
anticipate activating reliever Jonathan Broxton (forearm) from the 15-day
disabled list Tuesday. The team held off making the move Monday to give Broxton
two days off after pitching on consecutive days.
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wide receiver Steve Smith said he will have an MRI on Monday morning to
determine if he has any ligament damage to his left knee.NEW YORK -- Nets centre
Brook Lopez had surgery Saturday on his broken right foot, with the team saying
a second procedure was done in hopes of preventing further injury. Besides
repairing the fractured fifth metatarsal, surgeons also repositioned another
bone. "With this procedure, we both fixed the broken bone in Brooks right foot
and repositioned another bone, so that his sole of his foot will bear weight
more evenly than before," Dr. Riley Williams III, the Nets medical director,
said in a statement. "The repositioniing portion of the surgery lessens the
stress on the fractured bone, and decreases the likelihood of re-injury in the
future.
Darren McFadden Jersey. " Lopez also broke
the foot just before the 2011-12 season, when he was limited to just five games.
He then had another procedure last off-season to fix a bent screw in the foot.
Lopez was injured Dec. 20 against Philadelphia. The All-Star centre, who was
averaging a team-high 20.7 points, will miss the remainder of the season and the
Nets expect him back for off-season workouts.
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