Cubs open season with defeat to Cardinals

THE World Series champion Chicago Cubs opened baseball’s ball’s new season with a defeat on Sunday nday after Randal Grichuk’s single le gave the St Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory.

Chicago, who endedded a 108-year wait for the World Series with victory over Clevelandeland last November, slipped to defeat after Grichuk’s decisive ecisive play in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Cardinals engingineered a ga me-winwinn i ng posit ion a f t er Jose Martinez lined d up a double in right-centre entre off Mike Montgomermer y.

Yadier Moli na was t hen walked intennt i o n a l l y b e f o r e Kolten Wong worked ed a not her walk, a llow ing GrichukGr (pictured, AFP) the chan chance for his walk-of f hit. Elsewhere on Sunday,Sunda San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner clubbe clubbed two home runs but it was not enoughen to stop the Arizona DiamondDiam backs snatching a 6-5 win. Bumgarner became the first pitcher in Major League BaseballBa history to hit two homers on OpenO ing Day and looked to have helped the Giants intoi a g a m e - w i n n i n g positionpo a s t h e y ledl 5-4 in the ninth.

But Arizona shortstop Chris O Owings singled home the winning run withwi two outs in a two-run ninth inning to give the D-Backs victory at Chase Field.

Earlier, Bumgarner hit bases-empty home runs in the fifth and seventh innings to put the Giants 4-3 ahead. On the mound, Bumgarner struck out 11 and gave up six hits and three runs.

Nightmare start

Arizona tied the game in the eighth inning after consecutive singles by AJ Pollock, Owings and Paul Goldschmidt off Derek Law.

Bumgarner’s double blast on Sunday took his career home run tally to 16. He joined Barry Bonds (2002), Matt Williams (1994) and Willie Mays (1964) as the only Giants to score two home runs on Opening Day in the past 50 years.

In Florida, the Tampa Bay Rays thumped the New York Yankees 7-3 at Tropicana Field, with Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka having a nightmare start to the season.

Tanaka gave up seven runs from eight hits and was removed after less than three innings. It was the worst Opening Day performance by a Yankees pitcher in history.

“That was puzzling for us – there are going to be days where you don’t have great stuff, but usually, because of his command, he can find a way to get through it,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Evan Longoria and Logan Morrison both homered and drove in three runs for the Rays, who had never managed to beat Tanaka before in eight previous attempts.

Tanaka was hooked after 67 pitches, with reliever Tommy Lay ne coming in for t he f inal out of t he t hird inning.