St. Louis Cardinals vs Colorado Rockies
Monday, April 1, 2002, , Busch Stadium II
Attendance: 48,397, Time of Game: 2:53
Umpires: HP – Larry Young, 1B – Bill Hohn, 2B – Fieldin Culbreth, 3B – Lance Barksdale.
Field Condition: Unknown.
Start Time Weather: 68° F, Wind 18mph in from Rightfield,
Rockies Line-up
- Juan Pierre
- Juan Uribe
- Larry Walker
- Todd Helton
- Todd Zeile
- Todd Hollandsworth
- Jose Ortiz
- Gary Bennett
- Mike Hampton
- Mgr. Buddy Bell
Cardinals Line-up
- Fernando Vina
- Placido Polanco
- JD Drew
- Albert Pujols
- Jim Edmons
- Edgar Renteria
- Tino Martinez
- Mike Difelice
- Matt Morris
- Mgr. Tony LaRussa
Last year the Rockie and Mike Hampton embarrassed the Cardinals by shutting them out on five hits. The Cardinals look to revenge that loss.
The Game
Both teams fail to score in the first inning and in the second the Cardinals get the scoring started with Edmonds hitting a ground rule double, Tino Martinez walks with one out and Defelice singles him home for one run on to hits. and the Cardinals lead 1-0.
More Cardinals scoring in the third with a JD Drew double and an Edmonds single for another tally. The fourth finds Vina singles, Polanco singles, Drew walks and Pujols doubles two runs home. Edmonds walks and Renterai doubles for four more runs.
In the fifth, Mike Defelice hits a lead-off home run and the 6th inning St. Louis has Pujols doubling, Edmonds is intentionally walked, Renteria is hit-by-pitch and Tino Martinez hits a sacrifice fly.
The Rockies finally get on the board in the 8th off of lefty Steve Kline as Larry Walker singles followed by a Todd Helton single and a Todd Zeile double for two runs. In the bottom half the Cardinals get a Eli Merrero single, Renteria single and a Tino Martinez single for two more runs and it brings the final score to 10-2 Cardinals.
Rockies by the Numbers
2B: J Ortiz (1, off M Morris); T Zeile (1, off S Kline).
SF: T Zeile (1, off M Morris).
TB: L Walker 2; J Ortiz 2; T Helton 2; T Zeile 2; M Hampton; J Uribe.
GIDP: L Walker (1).
RBI: T Zeile 2 (2).
2-out RBI: T Zeile.
Team LOB: 8.
With RISP: 1 for 4.
Fielding
E: T Zeile (1).
Cardinals by the Numbers
2B: J Edmonds (1, off M Hampton); J Drew (1, off M Hampton); A Pujols 2 (2, 1 off R White, 1 off M Hampton); E Renteria (1, off M Hampton).
HR: M Difelice (1, off M James, 5th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to LF-CF).
SF: T Martinez (1, off R White).
IBB: J Edmonds (1, by R White).
HBP: E Renteria (1, by R White).
TB: M Difelice 5; A Pujols 4; E Renteria 3; J Edmonds 3; P Polanco 2; J Drew 2; E Marrero; T Martinez; F Vina.
RBI: A Pujols 3 (3); E Renteria 2 (2); M Difelice 2 (2); T Martinez 2 (2); J Edmonds (1).
2-out RBI: A Pujols 3; E Renteria.
Team LOB: 11.
With RISP: 6 for 15.
Fielding
DP: 1. E Renteria-F Vina-T Martinez.
After Opening Day
- The Cardinals went 97-65 during the season and won the National League Central division by 13 games over the Houston Astros. In the playoffs, the Cardinals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 3 games to 0 in the NLDS but lost to the San Francisco Giants 4 games to 1 in the NLCS.
- Second baseman Fernando Viña, shortstop Edgar Rentería, third baseman Scott Rolen, and outfielder Jim Edmonds each won Gold Gloves this year.
- On June 18, long-time broadcaster Jack Buck died at the age of 77, while four days later, pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in a Chicago hotel room, at age 33