MLB Opening Day 

By: Lauren Martindale 

4/3/23

Every year opening day for the MLB (Major League Baseball) comes around towards the end of March. This year it fell on Thursday, March 30th. This article is about the MLB teams but will focus on the teams near us such as the Cardinals, Cubs, and Reds. 


Rosters

The opening day roster for the St.Louis Cardinals was Brendan Donovan at 2nd base, Lars Nootbaar in Left Field, Paul Goldschmidt at 1st base, Nolan Arenado at 3rd, Wilson Contreras as catcher, Tyler O’Neill in Center Field, Nolan Gorman as DH ( Designated Hitter), Jordan Walker in Right Field, and Tommy Edman at Short Stop. The starting pitcher was Miles Mikolas. It was Walker’s and Contreras’s first major league game with the Cardinals. Contreras was previously with the Chicago Cubs and Walker was playing for the double-a Springfield Cardinals. 

This is the Chicago Cubs manager David Ross.

The roster for the Chicago Cubs was Nico Hoerner at 2nd, Dansby Swanson at Short Stop, Ian Happ in Left field, Cody Bellinger in Center, Trey Mancini as the DH, Yan Gomes at catcher, Eric Hosmer at 1st, Patrick Wisdom at 3rd, and Miles Mastrobuoni in Right field. The starting pitcher was Marcus Stroman. It was Swanson’s, Bellinger’s, Mancini’s, Hosmer’s, and Mastrobuoni's first game with the Cubs. 

The Cincinnati Red's opening day roster was Jonathan India at second base, TJ Friedl in Center Field, Jake Fraley as the DH, Tyler Stevenson at catcher,  Jason Vosler at first base, Will Myers in Right Field, Spencer Steer at third base, Will Benson in left field,  and Jose Barrero at shortstop.  It was Vosler’s, Myers’s, and Benson’s first game with the Reds. 

This is the Cincinnati Reds mascot.

This is Adam Wainwright singing the national anthem.

Games

First up is the Cardinals. Although they didn't win the game was still very exciting until the very end. The fans and the team got a  surprise when the national anthem was sung by their very own pitcher,  Adam Wainwright. In the top of the first the Blue Jays got three runs.  George Springer and a few others got a hit.  in the bottom of the first, the Cardinals got one run. Arenado got a hit and drove in  Brendon Donovan. In the top of the second, the Jays scored another run when Bo Bichette hit to right field and Springer scored. The Cardinals didn't score but Jordan Walker got his first major league hit. The Jays didn’t score in the third. The Cardinals scored two by O'Neill hitting a two-run homer with Contreras on first. In the top of the fourth Varsho hit a line drive to Nootbaar and Springer tagged up and scored. The Cardinals scored in the bottom of the fourth when Donovan hit a two-run homer. Neither team scored in the fifth. The Jays didn’t score in the sixth. The Cardinals scored one run in the 6th when Paul Goldschmidt got a  hit and Donovan scored. Both teams scored one run in the seventh and two in the eighth. The Cardinal's new catcher Wilson Contreras got hit in the knee with a 103-mile-an-hour ball and was taken out of the game. The Cardinals couldn't hold on to the lead and the Blue Jays scored two runs in the ninth and the Cardinals couldn't recover. the final score was 10-9 Blue Jays. 

Next up is the Cubs. The Cubs won 4-0 over the Brewers.  the first two innings were scoreless for both teams. The Brewers were scoreless again in the third.  the Cubs however scored four runs.  the rest of the game was scoreless over a total of four hits for the Brewers and six for the Cubs. One error was committed by each team. Marcus Stroman got the win.

 Last but not least is the Reds. The Reds lost 5-4 at home against  Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates didn't score in the first inning the Reds scored one run the second inning was scoreless for both teams the top of the third the Pirates scored one run and in the bottom of the Third the Reds didn't score and in the fourth, the Pirates scored three runs and the Reds scored one giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a 4-2 lead over the Reds. The Pirates didn't score in the 5th 6th or 7th the Reds scored twice in the fifth but didn't score in the 6th 7th 8th or 9th. Going into the 8th inning it was a 4-4 tie but the Pirates scored and the Reds didn’t score again making them lose five-four.

The pitching coach having a meeting at the mound with the pitcher, Cruz.

Two of the three local teams lost but everyone put in a good showing and all around it was a good opening day. 

Source: MLB.com

Contributor Bio:

Lauren Martindale, is a 12-year-old sixth-grader at EJHS, who runs track, enjoys cooking, and hanging out with her friends.Â