CHICAGO (AP) — Joc Pederson homered and drove in three runs, Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras went deep and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 on Friday afternoon. The Cubs billed it as “Opening Day 2.0” because Wrigley Field was operating at 100% capacity for the first time since 2019. They fell behind 5-1, only to treat the crowd of 35,112 to a comeback win over their NL Central rivals. Pederson gave the Cubs a 7-5 lead in the seventh with a two-run double off the wall in right-center against Génesis Cabrera. Rizzo tied it at 5-all in the sixth with his drive to right against Daniel Ponce de Leon.
