Grichuk, Cardinals top Cubs, 4-3, in wild opener Sunday

ST. LOUIS—Randal Grichuk smiled as he backed away from a mob of St. Louis Cardinals chasing him around the field. Then he stopped and jumped into the air for a celebratory collision with Dexter Fowler.

It was wet and wild, and far from a masterpiece. But opening day was a ton of fun for Grichuk & Co.

Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and a game-ending RBI single in the ninth, helping the Cardinals top the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Sunday.

“It’s just a night I won’t forget,” Grichuk said.

Jose Martinez sparked the winning rally with a pinchhit double against Mike Montgomery, who closed out the World Series in November for Chicago’s first title since 1908. Yadier Molina then was awarded the first no-pitch intentional walk in major league history, part of baseball’s offseason rule changes designed to speed up the game.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Grichuk lined a 1-1 pitch into the gap in left-center for his second career game-ending hit . He was mobbed as he rounded first in the rain, and what was left of a sellout crowd of 47,566 cheered wildly.

The Cardinals appeared set for a tidy 3-0 win before the Cubs rallied in the ninth. Ben Zobrist was hit by a pitch from Seung-hwan Oh and Jason Heyward singled before Willson Contreras hit a drive to left for a tying homer.

Before the dramatic finish, the night belonged to Carlos Martinez, who retired 12 in a row and 18 of 19 over one stretch against the defending champions. The ace righthander struck out 10 and walked none in 7 1/3 innings in his first start on opening day.

Jon Lester kept Chicago in the game with five effective innings despite not having his best stuff. Kyle Schwarber reached three times in his first game as the leadoff hitter since Fowler left the Cubs over the winter for an $82.5 million, five-year contract with the Cardinals.

St. Louis went 86-76 last year and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010, but the additions of Fowler and reliever Brett Cecil ramped up the optimism for this season. The Cardinals got another positive jolt when they announced a new contract for Molina earlier in the day that runs through the 2020 season.