Iann Happ had three hits, including a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning, and the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Thursday.
Nico Hoerner hit a two-run homer and Kyle Hendricks pitched neatly into the sixth, leading Chicago to the victory on a chilly, overcast afternoon at Wrigley Field. Japanese outfielder Seiya Suzuki reached three times and scored in his first big league game.
On a day stuffed full of firsts and debuts, Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes and catcher Omar Narvaez became the first battery to use baseball's new electronic pitch-calling system in a regular-season game. The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner allowed three runs and four hits in five innings.
Suzuki singled in the fifth for his first big league hit and walked twice. The 27-year-old finalized an $85 million, five-year contract with Chicago in March in the Cubs' biggest move of the offseason.
Andrew McCutchen, Willy Adames and Rowdy Tellez each had two hits for Milwaukee, and Lorenzo Cain drove in two runs. McCutchen served as the designated hitter in his first game with his new team after agreeing to a one-year deal last month.
The Brewers erased a 3-1 deficit with two runs in the seventh, but the Cubs went ahead to stay in the bottom half.
With runners on the corners and two outs, Happ hit a drive off Jake Cousins that caromed off the wall in center. Clint Frazier and Willson Contreras scored on Happ's second double of the day.
Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff and Cubs left-hander Justin Steele start on Friday afternoon.
Adam Wainwright pitched six scoreless innings, Tyler O'Neill hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high five, and the Cardinals celebrated Albert Pujols' return with a 9-0 season-opening win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Yadier Molina threw out a runner trying to steal second in the first game of his final big league season, and Nolan Arenado and Tommy Edman also homered for the Cardinals, who won the managerial debut of 35-year-old Oliver Marmol. Paul Goldschmidt drew four straight walks, the first player to do that on opening day since Manny Ramirez in 2002.
The Pirates had just six hits and lost budding star Ke'Bryan Hayes to left forearm spasms in the first inning - just hours after news began to spread that Hayes had agreed to a $70 million, eight-year deal. Hayes said the issue was minor and not related to a wrist injury that spoiled his 2021 season.
Wainwright (1-0) allowed five hits in his sixth opening day start and first since 2016. The 40-year-old struck out six and did not walk a batter. He and the 39-year-old Molina made their 305th start as a battery, fourth most in major league history. Molina made his franchise-record 18th successive opening day start.
O'Neill had an RBI single in the first, then broke the game open with a line-drive homer to left in the second inning against starter JT Brubaker (0-1) for a 4-0 lead.
Wainwright wriggled out of his only jam in the fourth by getting Kevin Newman to ground into an inning-ending double play with two runners on base. Wainwright has not allowed a run against Pittsburgh in his last 32 innings.
Yoshi Tsutsugo had two hits for Pittsburgh, which opened the season on the road for sixth successive season.
Pittsburgh RHP Mitch Keller (5-11, 6.17 last season) will face RHP Miles Mikolas (2-3, 4.23) in the second game of a four-game series Saturday.
