• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Defending NL champion Rockies open season at Cardinals

Mar 31, 2008 - 12:55 PM Colorado (0-0) at St Louis (0-0) 4:15 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) - The Colorado Rockies open their defense of their National League title on Monday when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals in the season opener for both teams.

Colorado went 14-1 to end the season, which included a dramatic, 13th-inning 9-8 victory over San Diego in the wild-card tiebreaker.

The Rockies then swept Philadelphia and Arizona to reach their first World Series, where they were swept by the Boston Red Sox.

Jeff Francis, who went 17-9 with a 4.22 ERA last season, will be the Opening Day starter for the Rockies. The Canadian lefthander has a career mark of 4-1 against St. Louis.

Francis will be opposed by Adam Wainwright, who went 14-12 with a 3.70 ERA in his first full season as a starter last year.

The Cardinals, who won the World Series in 2006, went just 78-84 last season and finished in third place in the Central Division.

If St. Louis has any hopes on improving on last season's record, the health of Albert Pujols will play a major role in its success.

The slugger was diagnosed with a "high-grade" tear of ligaments in his right elbow, but he has opted not to have surgery. Last season, the first baseman hit a career-low 32 home runs with 103 RBI but did hit over .300 for the seventh straight season.

St. Louis also has numerous pitching concerns as Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Matt Clement and Joel Pineiro all begin the season on the disabled list.