Break It down! April 6th Edition

The Pitchers:
- Cardinals: Adam Wainwright gets the Opening Day start and he might not be pleased to see the Pirates come to town (although I am sure the rest of us are). Last year in two starts against the Pirates Wainwright was 0 - 1 with an 8.25 ERA. Weird, right? Never fear though, Waino's numbers at home last season were great (7 - 1 with a 2.63 ERA), his Spring numbers were great, and the Cardinal's overall record against the Pirates were great. I feel good about Waino, but the bullpen is an unknown (for now at least).
- Pirates: Paul Maholm is a pretty good starting pitcher and although he got beat up a bit by the Red Sox in his last Spring start, he was great otherwise (1.52 ERA in six starts). Last season against the Cardinals he was 2 - 1 with a 3.05 ERA in 20.2 IP. Plus he is a lefty. So, will the Cards fare better against lefties this season, Maholm in particular? We'll see, but I don't feel as confident as I would like to feel. If the Cards can get him out of the game, that bullpen is garbage.

The Lineups:
- Cardinals: Pujols has crushed Maholm (8-for-16 with 4 extra base hits). He has crushed the rest of the Pirates too. Me thinks this will be a theme this season: Pujols crushes the opposing pitchers. Everyone else on the team has limited experience against Maholm, except Ludwick who is 1-for-11 against Maholm. Sure glad he is batting 5th and not 2nd or 4th today. The story line of this game for the Cardinals bats will be how theyhandle the first lefty of the season.
- Pirates: With all due respect, I have no respect for the Pirates lineup. Don't give Nate McLouth pitches to hit, that's it. He has battered the Cardinals in the recent past, 6 homers and 18 RBI against the Birds last year. The rest of this team sucks, or at least they should.

Well that's it in the way of analysis(?). Wish I were in St. Louis. GO CARDS!!