Cardinals give Reds first Opening Day shutout since 1953

With a 1-0 win on Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals gave the Cincinnati Reds their first shutout on Opening Day since Max Surkont pitched a complete game shutout on April 13, 1953 for the Milwaukee Braves.
Mar 31, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) pitches during the second inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Image Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
The Cardinals did so behind seven solid innings pitched by staff ace Adam Wainwright. For the ace pitcher from Georgia, it was the 100th win of his major league career.

Wainwright was relieved by Pat Neshek, Kevin Siegrist, Carlos Martinez, and Trevor Rosenthal. Rosenthal notched his first save of the young 2014 baseball season.

The Cardinals were limited to five hits on Monday and scored only once. The run that scored was huge nevertheless as perennial MVP candidate Yadier Molina launched the first home run of the season for the first of his two hits on the day.

The Reds put the shift on for Matt Adams but he launched it the other way for a single and a double.

There were a few errors but the Cardinals will settle down in time and control them. One was a fielding error by center fielder Peter Bourjos.

In what could be seen as Billy Hamilton‘s downfall as a major league hitter, he struck out all four times that he walked up to the plate. It’s very hard to be a stolen base threat when one cannot reach base. This shows the power of the Cardinals pitching arms.

One game down, 161 more games to go.