Albert Pujols homered and drove in four runs to lead Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals over winless Houston 5-0 Monday in their home opener. New batting coach Mark McGwire drew one of the biggest cheers during the pregame introductions before his first home game since retiring after the 2001 season. Pujols hit an RBI single and a three-run homer and Ryan Ludwick went 4 for 4. Wainwright (2-0) pitched eight innings and added his first career pickoff. The Astros are 0-7 and off to their worst since opening 0-9 in 1983. They've been shut out three times while facing a string of aces - Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Roy Halladay and Wainwright already - and have scored a major league-low 13 runs. Padres 17, Braves 2: At San Diego, Will Venable's two-run shot highlighted a 10-run fourth inning, and Kyle Blanks homered and drove in a career-high five runs to lead San Diego to a rout of Atlanta in its home opener. The Padres hit and scored as if they were playing in a bandbox rather than spacious Petco Park. Their 17 runs, on 19 hits, were the most by any team at the downtown ballpark since it opened in 2004. Kevin Correia (1-1) yielded two runs and four hits in 5 2-3 innings for San Diego. He also had a two-run single in the fourth. Giants 9, Pirates 3: At San Francisco, Bengie Molina had four RBIs from four at bats to help Barry Zito and San Francisco get the win over Pittsburgh. Reds 6, Marlins 5, 10 innings: At Miami, Scott Rolen homered twice and drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning to help Cincinnati beat Florida. Phillies 7, Nationals 4: At Philadelphia, Placido Polanco hit a go-ahead single and Chase Utley had a two-run homer as Philadelphia overcame an early deficit to beat Washington in their home opener. Cubs 9, Brewers 5: At Chicago, Xavier Nady, Jeff Baker and Aramis Ramirez homered as Chicago put on a power display for new owner Tom Ricketts in a win over Milwaukee.
