>>Cardinals Rally Past Pirates

Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to provide St. Louis with a much-needed spark, and the Cardinals took advantage of a bumpy outing by Pittsburgh's bullpen to slip past the Pirates 6-5 in 11 innings on Monday.

The Cardinals rallied to tie it in the eighth and again in the ninth then took their first and only lead in the 11th. Paul DeJong singled off Steven Brault (0-1) with two outs, moved to third after a hit batter and a walk and sprinted home from third when Pirates reliever Nick Kingham and catcher Francisco Cervelli got crossed up. Kingham's pitch squirted past Cervelli and went all the way to the backstop, allowing DeJong to score easily.

Jordan Hicks (1-1) worked two scoreless innings for St. Louis. John Gant picked up the save despite issuing a one-out walk to finish a sloppy 4-hour, 53-minute marathon that featured 16 pitchers, 16 walks, four hit batters, three errors and two home plate umpires. Crew chief Jerry Layne left in the seventh after taking a ball off the mask and was replaced by Vic Carapazza.

St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina made his first career appearance at third base in his 1,875th game in the majors. Molina made the cameo at third in the 11th when Matt Wieters - the last position player available for the Cardinals - came in to pinch hit in the 11th and stayed on to catch in the bottom of the inning. Molina did not have a defensive chance.

Colin Moran went 2 for 3 with three RBIs, including a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth that put the Pirates up 5-4. Josh Bell drove in two runs for Pittsburgh, and Chris Archer struck out eight and allowed just two hits in five shutout innings in his 2019 debut.

St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright, hoping to bounce back after an injury-plagued 2018, struggled with his command. The 37-year-old walked four - three in the first inning alone - and gave up four runs on four hits in four innings while throwing just 37 of his 73 pitches for strikes.

Miles Mikolas (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season when the teams meet on Wednesday. The 30-year-old allowed five runs in five innings in a loss to Milwaukee on opening day.

Jameson Taillon (0-1, 6.00) is 3-1 with a 3.42 ERA in eight career starts against St. Louis.

>>Indians Down White Sox

Roberto Perez drew a bases-loaded walk on four pitches from Dylan Covey in the eighth as the Indians rallied for a chilly 5-3 win in their home opener over the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

The Indians, whose bats have started out as cold as the early-spring weather, did just enough - and got some needed help from the wild White Sox - to score four runs in the eighth after nearly wasting Clevinger's 12-strikeout performance.

As they wait for All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor, second baseman Jason Kipnis and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez to get healthy, the Indians will have to find offense any way they can.

After the dreadful outing by Covey (0-1), Caleb Frare came in and walked pinch-hitter Greg Allen on five pitches to force in another run and give the Indians a 5-3 lead. White Sox manager Rick Renteria made several visits to the mound in the eighth to try and get his relievers on target, with minimal success.

Cleveland's Jon Edwards (2-0) picked up the win despite giving up a two-run homer to White Sox rookie Ryan Cordell in the eighth. Brad Hand worked the ninth for his second save.

Chicago has lost 24 of 31 to Cleveland and nine of the last 10 at Progressive Field.

Following an off day, the clubs will conclude the two-game series Wednesday with Cleveland ace Corey Kluber facing Carlos Rodon. Kluber's 13 career wins against the White Sox are his most against any opponent.

>>Braves Blank Cubs

Brian McCann hit a two-run single in a four-run first inning, and the Braves took advantage of six Chicago errors to beat the Cubs 8-0 on Monday night.

After being swept in their first series at Philadelphia, the Braves became the final major league team to win a game. Ender Inciarte and Ronald Acuna Jr. homered off Kyle Hendricks (0-1).

Hendricks gave up seven runs, two earned, on 10 hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander's 2019 debut came after he agreed to a four-year extension last week that added $55.5 million to his contract through 2023.

The Cubs have allowed seven or more runs in three straight losses since opening the season with a 12-4 win at Texas. The six errors were the most by the Cubs in a nine-inning game since also making six on June 14, 1982, against Philadelphia.

Rookie Mark Zagunis dropped Inciarte's foul pop-up in left field for an error in the first inning. On the next pitch from Hendricks, Inciarte hit a homer over the 375-foot mark in right-center.

A throwing error by shortstop Javier Baez on a grounder by Nick Markakis allowed Josh Donaldson, who reached on a single, to score from second as the long first inning continued. Finally, Zagunis was part of a trio of Cubs fielders who watched Ozzie Albies' blooper fall in shallow left field for a double later in the first. That play set up McCann's two-run single.

Albies had three hits.

The struggles for Zagunis continued in the second when he took a called third strike to end the inning with Wilson Contreras on third base. Zagunis later had two doubles.

Sean Newcomb threw 91 pitches in four trouble-filled innings. He gave up six hits with four walks. He left the bases loaded in the third when David Bote's grounder to third base ended the inning.

Wes Parsons (1-1) threw one perfect inning in relief of Newcomb for his first career win.

Following an off day Tuesday, a nine-game trip continues when LHP Jon Lester (1-0, 3.00 ERA) faces the Braves on Wednesday night.

Julio Teheran (0-1, 5.40) is 3-1 with a 3.44 ERA in eight career starts against the Cubs.