Lineup was ready for Opening Day
Down 3-0 in the first inning, Nolan Arenado got the scoring underway with a line drive single to left field, scoring Brendan Donovan. In the third inning, Tyler O'Neill showed off his strength with his first home run of the season with a fly to center field, scoring Willson Contreras. The blast traveled 403 feet at 105.2 mph.
This was O'Neill's fourth consecutive Opening Day homer.
That is 4 consecutive Opening Days with a home run for Tyler O'Neill, tying a major-league record! pic.twitter.com/TkUlMkG0YH
β St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 30, 2023
Brendan Donovan hit his first home run of the season the next inning on a fly to right-center field, scoring Tommy Edman. The blast traveled 388 feet at 99 mph. The Cardinals took the lead in the next inning on a single to right field, scoring Donovan. The Cardinals retook the lead in the seventh inning as Jordan Walker, making his Major League debut, ground into a force-out, allowing Conteras to score.
Down 8-7 in the eighth inning, Arenado knocked a ground-rule double, knocking the ball 291 feet at 107.4 mph. Unfortunately, that was all the Cardinals could put together, as they couldn't hold off some ninth-inning magic from the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays won 10-9.
It was great to see that the team didn't give up on hitting and did scrap-together runs. Unfortunately, nine runs weren't enough Thursday.