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Cubs spoil Cards home opener with early offense

Apr 14, 2012 - 4:04 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Bryan LaHair hit a grand slam and Ian Stewart added a three-run homer as Chicago dealt the defending-champion Cardinals a 9- 5 defeat in the opener of a three-game weekend set from Busch Stadium.

"I knew I hit it good, but I haven't played in this park that much so I wasn't quite sure," LaHair said. "When it snuck over it was good."

Starlin Castro finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Cubs, who have won two in a row since a three-game losing streak.

Jeff Samardzija (2-0) did just enough to pick up the win, allowing five runs and 10 hits with five strikeouts over five innings.

Matt Carpenter collected two hits and drove in two runs for St. Louis, which has lost two in a row. Yadier Molina, David Freese and Jon Jay added an RBI each in defeat.

Adam Wainwright (0-2) lasted just three innings, charged with seven hits and eight runs in his first home start since September of 2010.

"We're seen so many positive things from [Wainwright] this year, he's been so far ahead of what all the expectations were [after missing the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery]," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Today was just one of those games where you have to step back, gather yourself and figure out what you have to do differently."

Chicago's early outburst concluded in the fourth on a Soriano double-play grounder which boosted its lead to 9-0, then St. Louis finally awoke with a five-run fifth.

Shane Robinson started the rally with a leadoff pinch single, moved up on a groundout and scored on a Jay base hit. Two batters later Carlos Beltran singled to put men on the corners, then Freese and Molina added run-scoring hits before Carpenter's two-run triple made it 9-5.

Rafael Dolis, James Russell, Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol combined to shut the door from there.

Following a delay of one hour, 44 minutes due to rain, the Cubs felt the mojo, racking up a 4-0 lead five batters in. David DeJesus ripped a ground-rule double to start, Darwin Barney singled, then Castro singled in DeJesus and Stewart followed with a three-run blast.

It was 8-0 in the third. Castro walked with one out, Alfonso Soriano singled, Stewart drew a base on balls and LaHair cleared the fence in left center for a grand slam.

Game Notes

St. Louis won 10 of 15 over the Cubs last season...The Cards fell to 2-5 in home openers in the new Busch, which opened in 2006...Attendance was 46,882.