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Wallace starts season with a bang

Cardinals prospect homers twice in rain-soaked 16-4 romp
April 10, 2009
Brett Wallace hasn't missed a beat.

Wallace homered twice and drove in six runs Thursday as the Springfield Cardinals waited through a rain delay of nearly three hours and pounded the Frisco RoughRiders, 16-4, in the Texas League opener for both teams.

Ranked No. 42 in MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects, Wallace was coming off a season in which he hit .337 across two Minor League levels with eight homers and 36 RBIs in 54 games. After a slow start in the Arizona Fall League, he batted .413 in his final 11 contests to get his average up to .309.

The RoughRiders were the latest victims for the 22-year-old third baseman, who delivered an RBI single in a three-run first inning, then launched a three-run homer to left-center field in the second.

After lining softly to third base in the fourth, Wallace was hit by a pitch in the sixth and led off the seventh with another opposite-field blast.

"I really love to go the other way," he said in a postgame interview. "The first was a fastball away, the second was a slider away."

The California native wasn't done, stroking a bases-loaded single in the eighth that capped the scoring. If manager and third base coach Pop Warner hadn't held a runner at third, Wallace would have tied Colby Rasmus' team record for RBIs in a game.

"It's good to start with a win. Hopefully, that'll get us going in the right direction," he said.

As for the rain delay, which halted play for more than 2 1/2 hours in the third inning, Wallace said, "Being Opening Day, the guys really wanted to go out there and get one game under their belts."

Daniel Descalso went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Daryl Jones contributed three hits, an RBI and four runs scored. They helped Springfield end a four-game Opening Day losing streak.

Daren Smith is an editor for MLB.com.