ST. LOUIS — — Lars Nootbaar homered and Sonny Gray pitched five solid innings to help the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins in their rain-delayed opener Thursday.
Nolan Arenado also went deep for the Cardinals late in the game. The first pitch was pushed back by 1 hour, 38 minutes.
Nootbaar slammed a two-run drive off Pablo Lopez in the second inning to stake the Cardinals to a 4-0 lead.
Gray allowed two runs and four hits. He struck out six and threw 49 strikes in his 77-pitch outing. Gray pitched for the Twins from 2022-23.
The Cardinals’ bullpen gave up just one run over four innings. Ryan Helsley earned the save.
Arenado, who turned down a trade to Houston in the offseason, took a curtain call for the sellout crowd after his home run in the eighth pushed the lead to 5-3.
Minnesota RHP Joe Ryan (7-7, 3.60 ERA last season) faces RHP Erick Fedde (9-9, 3.30) when the three-game series resumes Saturday afternoon, 12:20 with the pregame and the first pitch at 1:15.