Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright made his second Opening Day start as the Arizona Diamondbacks peppered Waino for 11 hits in a 6-2 win over the Cardinals late Monday night.
A three-run fourth inning fueled the Diamondbacks off Wainwright, who didn’t look sharp in his first start since signing the biggest contract for a pitcher in franchise history.
After breezing through the first three innings, Wainwright left pitches up in the zone and Arizona made him pay during a 34 pitch inning, fourth inning. Up 1-0, Wainwright allowed two one-out singles in the fourth, before Jason Kubel’s game-tying RBI double. A.J. Pollock lined a fastball into center that bounced off of Jon Jay’s glove, as he attempted a diving catch. That allowed two runs to score.
Wainwright may have been affected by a line drive that hit him in the shoulder in the third inning. Watch the video.
Arizona added an unearned run off Wainwright before his night was over. Fernando Salas was charged with Arizona’s two other runs.
The Cardinals grabbed a 1-0 lead on a Matt Holliday double in the first off D-Backs starter Ian Kennedy. Holliday then got thrown out at third on a ground ball to the shortstop. The Cardinals also scored on a two-out single by Daniel Descalso in the seventh, but Descalso was thrown out at second base after another baserunning blunder killed the inning.