Cardinals' season opener, four-run lead washed away

ST. LOUIS — Jeff Francis and the National League champion Colorado Rockies get a do-over.

The left-hander, who tied the franchise record with 17 wins last year, walked three St. Louis Cardinals, each on four pitches, in a four-run first inning and gave up a home run to Albert Pujols in the second. His record was wiped clean when the game was postponed by rain Monday with the Cardinals leading 5-1 in the third inning.

"I might be the luckiest guy on the planet today," Francis said. "I guess I should go to the casino tonight."

After a wait of 1 hour, 39 minutes, the game was called and the opener was rescheduled for tonight. It marked the fourth time in club history that the Cardinals' home opener was rained out, and first since 1994.

The rainout gives Kip Wells a chance to face his former team.

Wells, 7-17 with a 5.70 ERA last year with the Cardinals, had been slated for long relief. Instead he gets a fill-in start against Kyle Lohse, who signed a one-year free agent contract with the Cardinals in mid-March. Lohse was supposed to have faced minor league hitters today for a final tuneup.

"Obviously you use the adrenaline of the moment to your advantage," Wells said. "Other than that, you've still got to stay composed and make pitches and not get distracted by the circumstances.

"It'll be exciting, but this has all transpired in the last hour, so for me to have some poetic feel about it, it's kind of last minute," he added.

Lohse will be on regular rest after throwing five shutout innings in his final spring outing. The Cardinals had planned to delay his debut until Sunday because of his late start.

"He's on time for it, so I think we'll start Kyle and see how far he can go," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Francis needed 70 pitches — only half strikes — to get seven outs before a downpour stopped the game with one out in the third inning and the Cardinals leading 5-1.

The Cardinals batted around in a four-run first with a two-run double from Rick Ankiel and a two-run single from Yadier Molina.

"That's not the Jeff we've grown accustomed to seeing," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "It's the most out of whack we've ever seen him as far as mechanics are concerned."

Pujols hit five homers and 18 RBIs in spring training, quieting reports of a torn ligament in his right elbow that could require surgery. His solo home run off Francis made it 5-1 in the second.

Francis opened the game with 10 straight balls, walking Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick. Pujols then swung at a high fastball that would have made it a 3-0 count, and reached for another pitch out of the zone on a line-drive out to left.

Francis followed with seven straight balls, walking Troy Glaus to load the bases and falling behind 3-0 against Ankiel. Ankiel lined a full-count pitch down the first-base line for a two-run double and Molina followed with a single.

Adam Wainwright also had a shaky first, allowing two hits and a walk. Left fielder Schumaker made a diving catch that robbed Troy Tulowitzki of extra bases to help Wainright get out of the jam. The Rockies scored on Garret Atkins' broken-bat RBI grounder.

"I was actually just starting to feel pretty good when it got rained out," Wainwright said. "I was a little amped at the start of the game. I was getting the ball up a bit."