Adam Wainwright gave up a three-run homer to Ian Stewart in the first and a grand slam to Bryan LaHair in the third Friday as the Cardinals lost 9-5 to the Cubs in their home opener.
Wainwright was taken out after allowing eight runs in three innings. He fell to 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA on the young season.
In Wainwright’s defense, LaHair’s slam was wind-aided and still barely cleared the fence in left-center. A better left fielder than Matt Holliday might have been able to go up and take it away.
Still, Wainwright wasn’t impressive at all. His velocity actually appears to have regressed since the beginning of the spring, and he walked a pair of batters leading up to LaHair’s slam.
Fortunately, all of the Cardinals’ other starters have looked impressive thus far, and they should be able to hang in the NL Central race even with Chris Carpenter out indefinitely and Wainwright struggling out of the gate. They’re currently 5-1 in games not started by Wainwright.