Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals opened the season at home against a team that had played in the National League Championship Series the previous fall. The Cardinals dropped all three games to the Mets, were outscored 20-2, and lost Chris Carpenter for the year after pitching six innings in the opener.

In three games, the Cardinals never led for a single inning.

This year, St. Louis opened the season at home against a team that won the NLCS the previous fall. The Redbirds took two of three from the Colorado Rockies and only trailed for two innings the entire series. That's on top of a 5-1 lead that got washed out after three innings on Monday.

What a difference a year makes. No, these aren't the 2007 Cardinals in body or spirit. Whether they resemble anything close to the 2004-2006 editions remains to be seen. Three down, 159 to go.

But if any opening series is a preview of what's to come, fans have to be encouraged or at least intrigued by what they saw this week.

Newcomer Kyle Lohse pitched five shutout innings on Tuesday. Bullpen convert Todd Wellemeyer pitched five innings of one-run ball on Wednesday. Brad Thompson saw their opening bids and raised it. He pitched six and two-thirds shutout innings on Thursday.

Other than the 8^th inning meltdown on Tuesday night, the bullpen did its job, giving up only two other runs in 10 1/3 innings. Even Anthony Reyes, banished to the back of the bullpen, struck out the side in the 8^th inning of the rubber game.

The defense flashed its range and arms in ways not seen that often last year. Skip Schumaker and Rick Ankiel had diving outfield catches, Shumaker gunned down a runner at the plate on Thursday on the same day that shortstop Cesar Izturis made a play from the hole that David Eckstein could only dream of making.

The offense produced twelve runs in the three games. Eight of the RBI were produced by players that weren't around on opening day one year ago.

The last time the Cardinals won a series against a team with a winning record in 2007 took place last August.

If last year's results are any guide, St. Louis has a friendly schedule ahead. The next ten games and 13 of the next 16 will be against teams with a losing record from 2007.

Seven of those contests will be against the woeful San Francisco Giants, sans Barry Bonds.

The opportunity is there. Nothing like a great start out of the gate to get the team and the fans fired up.

Three games down. Six long months to go.