Opening Day 1987
Tuesday, April 7, 1987, , Wrigley Field
Attendance: 38,240, Time of Game: 3:21
Umpires: HP – Dutch Rennert, 1B – Ed Montague, 2B – Dave Pallone, 3B – Tom Hallion
Managers: Whitey Herzog (STL, Gene Michael (CHC)
Cubs Batting Order
- Bob Dernier
- Ryne Sandbeg
- Andrew Dawson
- Keith Morleland
- Jody Davis
- Brian Davett
- Leon Durham
- Shawon Dunston
- Rick Sutcliffe
Cardinals Batting Order
- Vince Coleman
- Ozzie Smith
- Tom Herr
- Jack Clark
- Jim Lindeman
- Tony Pena
- Terry Pendleton
- Tito Landrum
- John Tudor
The Cardinals go down in order in the first inning but the Cubs create some noise. Dernier singles to lead off the inning followed by a double from Ryan Sandberg. Andre Dawson reaches on an error by the second baseman and the Cubs lead 2-0 after one inning.
In the second inning Dunston doubles, Sutcliffe walks and Dernier gets an infield hot to load the bases for Sandberg. Tudor walks in a run and the Cubs lead 3-0.
The Cardinals explode in the 3rd inning and knock Sutcliffe out of the game (Greg Maddux enters) with 3 singles and 4 walks to score 5 runs and take the lead 5-3. Dickie Noles enters to pitch the 7th inning and he allows four runs on three hits, one walk and one error for the lead to balloon to 9-3.
Bill Dawley pitched four innings of relief without a run and the Cardinals win the opener 9-3 over Sutcliffe and the Cubs.
Cubs Stats for the Game
2B: R Sandberg (1, off J Tudor); B Dayett (1, off J Tudor); S Dunston (1, off J Tudor).
3B: B Dernier (1, off J Tudor).
SF: K Moreland (1, off J Tudor).
TB: B Dernier 5; B Dayett 3; R Sandberg 2; S Dunston 2; K Moreland; L Durham.
GIDP: J Davis 2 (2).
RBI: K Moreland (1); R Sandberg (1); A Dawson (1).
2-out RBI: R Sandberg.
Team LOB: 7.
With RISP: 1 for 5.
Fielding
E: S Dunston (1).
Pitching ▴ IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF GSc IR IS WPA aLI RE24
Rick Sutcliffe, L (0-1) 2.2 4 5 5 7 0 0 16.88 19 23 -0.422 1.68 -4.2
Greg Maddux 3.1 2 0 0 1 3 0 0.00 13 3 0 0.177 0.86 2.3
Dickie Noles 0.1 2 4 3 1 1 0 81.00 5 0 0 -0.115 0.74 -2.1
Jamie Moyer 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 2 3 3 -0.053 0.41 -1.8
Les Lancaster 2.1 2 0 0 2 3 0 0.00 11 1 0 0.006 0.04 1.4
Team Totals 9 11 9 8 11 7 0 8.00 50 23 7 3 -0.407 0.96 -4.3
Cardinals Stats for the Game
2B: T Pendleton (1, off R Sutcliffe); O Smith (1, off J Moyer).
IBB: T Landrum (1, by R Sutcliffe).
TB: T Landrum 3; T Herr 2; V Coleman 2; O Smith 2; T Pendleton 2; J Lindeman; J Tudor.
RBI: T Landrum 2 (2); O Smith 2 (2); J Tudor 2 (2); J Lindeman 2 (2); T Herr (1).
2-out RBI: J Tudor 2; T Landrum.
Team LOB: 14.
With RISP: 5 for 15.
Fielding
DP: 3. O Smith-T Herr-J Clark; J Lindeman-T Pendleton; J Tudor-T Herr-J Clark.
E: T Herr (1).
Outfield Assists: J Lindeman (B Dayett at 3rd base).
Baserunning
SB: T Pena (1, 2nd base off D Noles/J Sundberg); T Herr (1, 2nd base off L Lancaster/J Sundberg).
Pitching Line:
Tudor 5IP/8H/3R/3ER/3BB/2K
Dawley 4IP/1H/0R/0ER/0BB/3K
After Opening Day
The Cardinals went 95-67 during the season and finished first in the National League East Division for the third and last time before moving to the NL Central in 1994. They went on to win the NLCS in seven games over the San Francisco Giants. In the World Series against the Minnesota Twins, after having fallen behind 2-0 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, they won their next three games at home. However, back at the Metrodome, they lost the last two and fell one game short of a World Series title. It would be the Cardinals’ last World Series appearance until 2004.
Notable transactions
April 1, 1987: Mike LaValliere, Mike Dunne and Andy Van Slyke were traded by the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tony Peña.
April 6, 1987: Lee Tunnell was purchased by the Cardinals from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
June 2, 1987: Jeremy Hernandez was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1987 Major League Baseball Draft.
July 16, 1987: Skeeter Barnes was purchased from the Cardinals by the Milwaukee Brewers.
July 25, 1987: Joe Boever was traded by the Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Randy O’Neal.
August 31, 1987: Pat Perry was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later.On September 3, 1987 the Cincinnati Reds sent Scott Terry to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the deal.
September 29, 1987: Doug DeCinces was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.