The Cardinals picked up 2016 where they left off 2015 and lost to the Pirates four to one Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh. They will have to stew on it until game 2 begins on Tuesday night.
The franchise is now 2-8 in their last 10 Opening Days. They are also in last place in the NL Central, 1 game behind the Pirates and a 1/2 game behind the Cubs, Reds and Brewers.
Let’s go to the Cardinals highlights:
What else did we learn?
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This lineup didn’t even last 30 minutes:
https://twitter.com/BBTN/status/716667937554194432
Tommy Pham exited the game early with a ‘strained left oblique’, which shifted Holliday to LF and pressed Matt Adams into action at 1B.
The injury bug that infected the Cardinals for most of 2015 has not been kicked.
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The ESPN telecast mentioned roughly 85 times that Francisco Liriano has never pitched more than 200 innings in a season.
Why?
Because he walks guys like he’s got a side deal from FitBit.
So what was the Cardinals gameplan? Swing, of course. And then swing some more.
Liriano joins King Felix as only active pitchers with multiple 10+ K starts on #OpeningDay. https://t.co/F0VMuPSNmL pic.twitter.com/TZfP3V6PWt
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) April 3, 2016
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Kolten Wong had a real bad day at the office.
Kolten Wong's gameplan at the plate: https://t.co/vkl1wIaliI
— Catt Marp (@CattMarpMD) April 3, 2016
To be fair, Wong probably would have not played today if it weren’t for the injuries to Peralta and Tejada. The plan all along was to have Gyorko start at 2B when the Cardinals were facing tough LH pitching. But since Jedd was needed at SS, Wong is now the everyday 2B no matter the match-up.
That being said…
He left the bases juiced. Twice. And the second (bases loaded) AB he displayed the plate discipline of your 5-year-old nephew at tee ball after Liriano had already walked 2 in the inning.
Got to have a plan at the plate. The HBP in the 9th is a start, I suppose?
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The offense has to do better.
After being anemic all of 2015, I think most of us were a little wary of how the Cardinals would improve without adding a proven bat and losing their best offensive player.
Cardinals offense: pic.twitter.com/9tHzj7hZbp
— Cards Nation (@CardsNation13) April 3, 2016
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Let’s hope the Cardinals use the off-day to forget about this one. Beyond seeing Wainwright and Molina back and healthy for Opening Day, I’m not sure there are many positives to build on. Maybe the ‘not giving up’ factor in the 9th?
161 left. Let’s hope they’re more fun.
Photo: Boston.com
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