Cardinals 10, Brewers 1
ST. LOUIS -- Opening Day in Busch Stadium couldn't have gone any better for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Rapping out 19 hits, a club record for a home opener, St. Louis established a 9-0 lead before the end of the third inning and waltzed to a 10-1 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers Monday.
Rookie left fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker led the onslaught, going 4-for-4 with a sacrifice fly, a double and a triple. Catcher Yadier Molina collected three hits, two RBIs and a rare stolen base, while shortstop Aledmys Diaz bagged three hits, including two doubles, and an RBI.
Third baseman Matt Carpenter added two hits and an RBI, as did center fielder Randal Grichuk. Eight different players knocked in runs for the Cardinals (4-3), who have scored at least 10 runs in three straight games for the first time since 1980.
Given all that support, starter Michael Wacha (1-0) sailed through six scoreless innings, allowing four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. It was the fourth straight win for St. Louis after absorbing a season-opening sweep last week in Pittsburgh.
Taylor Jungmann (0-1) lasted only two-plus innings, allowing eight hits and eight runs. Jungmann, who walked one and fanned two, has allowed 14 hits and 14 runs in two career starts covering seven innings in St. Louis.
The Cardinals scored three in the first. First baseman Matt Holliday and Grichuk rapped run-scoring doubles, followed by Molina's RBI single.
Carpenter's RBI triple and Hazelbaker's sacrifice fly upped the margin to 5-0 in the second. St. Louis turned it into a laugher with four more in the third.
Molina drilled an RBI double, second baseman Kolten Wong added a sacrifice fly, Diaz collected an RBI double and Carpenter bagged a run-scoring single.
Milwaukee (3-4) avoided a shutout when first baseman Chris Carter led off the seventh with his third homer of the season, but the Cardinals capped the scoring in the seventh on an RBI single by first baseman Matt Adams.
NOTES: Milwaukee drew 26 walks in its first six games, the most it has worked in that span since 2009. ... St. Louis LHP Marco Gonzales hasn't decided yet whether to undergo surgery for his ailing left elbow. A rehab program that doesn't involve surgery is also an option. ... Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said SS Ruben Tejada (left quad strain) has been working out and is feeling good at the team's complex in Jupiter, Fla. Tejada is eligible to come off the DL on Saturday.