YOUR AD HERE »

Rockies opener rained out in St. Louis

R.B. Fallstrom
Associated Press
Vail, CO Colorado
Tom Gannam/APCardinals fans wait for the rain to stop at the Cardinal's opening day game against the Colorado Rockies, Monday in St. Louis.
ALL |

ST. LOUIS ” The opener between the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis was postponed by rain Monday in the third inning with the Cardinals leading 5-1 on a home run by Albert Pujols.

The game was rescheduled for Tuesday night, which had been an off-day for the teams.

After a wait of 1 hour, 39 minutes, the game was called. It marked the fourth time in club history that the Cardinals’ home opener was rained out and first since 1994.



Along with Pujols’ homer, Jeff Francis’ shaky start for the NL champions also was wiped out.

Francis, who tied the franchise record with 17 victories last year, issued three four-pitch walks while the Cardinals batted around in a four-run first. Rick Ankiel hit a two-run double and Yadier Molina had a two-run single.

Support Local Journalism



Pujols hit five homers and 18 RBIs in spring training, quieting reports of a torn ligament in his right elbow that could require surgery in the future. His solo home run off Francis made it 5-1 in the second.

Francis opened the game with 10 straight balls, walking Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick. Pujols then swung at a high fastball that would have made it a 3-0 count, and reached for another pitch out of the zone on a line-drive out to left.

Francis followed with seven straight balls, walking Troy Glaus to load the bases and falling behind 3-0 against Ankiel. Ankiel lined a full-count pitch down the first-base line for a two-run double and Molina followed with his single.

Adam Wainwright also had a shaky first, allowing two hits and a walk and benefiting from a diving catch from left fielder Skip Schumaker that robbed Troy Tulowitzki of extra bases. The Rockies scored on Garret Atkins’ broken-bat RBI grounder.


Support Local Journalism