Cubs, Maddon become first to use no-pitch intentional walk

A first-time All-Star in 2015 who lost an AL-leading 19 times last season, Archer (1-0) limited NY to two runs and seven hits.

Most prognosticators don’t seem to think the Cardinals are the team to pose the biggest threat to the Cubs’ defense of their title this season; they favor the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets or Washington Nationals.

Cubs fans turn tables in St. Louis: Jeff Moran and Patti Carnahan dressed in their Chicago Cubs gear for Opening Day on Sunday. Obviously, we have to play against him, and we like him until it’s time to go out on the field to compete.

“I just want the weather to be good, the beer to be cold, the baseball to be good, everybody has a great time, the Orioles win and they want to come back”, he said.

In anticipation of another very enjoyable baseball season this summer I’ve changed the profile picture on my Facebook page to the Fly the W Flag.

Fowler spent two successful years in Chicago, drawing praise for his presence in the clubhouse and his solid all-around play on the field. At one point the starter set down 12 consecutive Cubs. He smacked a ball off the base of the left field wall to plate the game victor, sending the defending champs in from the rain with a loss.

The Chicago Cubs will begin their season on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. against their rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Andrew McCutchen had an off year and after being dangled as trade bait for much of the winter, shifts to right field with Starling Marte moving to center and Gregory Polanco taking over in left. “And I’ve thought about that”. “You feel it building up, you feel it coming, you see a light at the end of the tunnel”. Cincinnati will need pitcher Brandon Finnegan to take a step forward in his development and Homer Bailey to return to form after Tommy John surgery, while 22-year-old top prospect Jose Peraza gets his chance to shine at second base after the Reds parted with veteran Brandon Phillips. “He nailed it, and he deserves everything that he’s getting right now”.

The Cubs have attracted the attention of the oddsmakers in Las Vegas and are the early leader to win the 2017 World Series. “We just didn’t have a team meeting”. “It was fun. Obviously there’s irony in that, but it was fun for us to be out there again”. And then also not forgetting the previous year, NLCS was pretty solid, also. We missed the playoffs a year ago. I think symbolically it will be turned next week.

It’s opening day for the Major League Baseball so I can’t resist going to the diamond for today’s Play of the Day.

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) – Chris Archer pitched seven solid innings and Tampa Bay won the first game of the major league season, roughing up NY ace Masahiro Tanaka. St. Louis will also have the benefit of home field advantage on Opening Day. “The whole city shuts down”. The 2017 Cardinals rode in pickup trucks around the warning track. “We’re ready to get things rolling”.

St. Louis leadoff man Dexter Fowler was the only one of the big three signees to come from outside the organization.

The 2017 Major League Baseball season is underway and the St Louis Cardinals are off to a great start, having beaten World Series champions the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in a thrilling opener.