The courageous new world of Cubs baseball began at 7:38 p.m. on Sunday at Busch Stadium in front of a sellout crowd and a national TV audience.
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Chicago may have won the NL Central by 17.5 games previous year, but St. Louis is in first place after Day 1 of the 2017 season.
How do you top previous year?
Molina signed a three-year, $60 million contract extension before the game that all but guaranteed he will retire a Cardinal, another good reminder that things will only get harder for the Cubs.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to thank God and go at it”, he said.
St. Louis Cardinals’ Randal Grichuk celebrates after hitting a walk-off single to defeat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in a baseball game Sunday, April 2, 2017, in St. Louis.
Grichuk, who hit a two-run home run to put the Cards up 3-0 in the eighth, came through again in the ninth with the game-winning hit. Taking the bump for the Cubs in the season opener is left-hander Jon Lester, who went 19-5 with a 2.44 ERA and 197 strikeouts in 32 starts last season. We got the parade with the Clydesdales and riding in the back of the trucks. A moment of silence for St. Louis legend Chuck Berry preceded his daughter singing the national anthem.
Archer pitched seven solid innings, and the Rays roughed up Tanaka on the way to beating NY 7-3 in the first game of the major-league season Sunday. For me, mentally, the page has been turned. “This is a new journey, a new group”. Having Albert Almora on the bench will allow the manager to shift around the lineup if defensive changes are needed, with Almora likely heading to center, Heyward to right, Bryant to left, and Baez to third if the game is close in the late innings.
The Royals are not the same team that made it to the World Series two years ago and the Detroit Tigers are not getting any younger. However, this Cubs team led by Lester will be too tough to stop in their season opener. “I don’t know how to explain it”.
The victory will set up a rematch of the epic 1986 World Series, with the Mets defeating the juggernaut 106-win Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in seven games. We’re lucky to have this group of guys.
Manager Joe Maddon said that happened in spring training. We have what we need to win here again. “I just love what I’m doing”.
CBS Sports indicates that right out of the gate this game will have a playoff feel to it as two of the best pitchers in the game will battle it out in Game 1 of the 162 game schedule.
There are three games slated for Opening Day: The Yankees will be in Tampa Bay facing off with the Rays, the San Francisco Giants will square off with the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix, and the defending champion Cubs will be in St. Louis for a nightcap with the Cardinals. Although several teams have gotten stronger and may have the chance to challenge then, the Cubs still look like a strong team with a lot of depth.
As rain fell in Busch Stadium, the Cubs threatened to score their first runs of the season. A line-drive sacrifice fly to right by Matt Carpenter brought Fowler home.
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“I just want the weather to be good, the beer to be cold, the baseball to be good, everybody has a great time, the Orioles win and they want to come back”, he said.
