ST. LOUIS: Home opener hoopla was no distraction at all for Michael Wacha. Neither was the 49-degree chill for the first pitch.

The 22-year-old rookie was definitely excited about the occasion and the opportunity. Just like last fall when he was the breakout pitching star of the postseason, he fed off the atmosphere.

“Huge crowd out there, a lot of energy,” Wacha said after the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 on Monday. “It’s a lot of fun pitching in front of your home crowd, 40,000-plus fans.

“I don’t know who wouldn’t thrive off those kind of situations.”

Wacha outdid Tony Cingrani in a rematch of young power arms, and the Cardinals got a three-run double from Yadier Molina in the first inning.

“I didn’t have my fastball, so what are you going to do? I just tried to battle,” Cingrani said. “One bad pitch and it cleared the bases.”

A standing-room crowd of 47,492, the largest at 9-year-old Busch Stadium, braved daylong rain to greet the National League champions and take a look at the new Ballpark Village. Hundreds milled about the attached complex, which features five sports bars and rooftop seating.

The Cardinals bunched three hits and a walk over the first five hitters to take the early lead against Cingrani (0-1), who allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings against the Cardinals six days earlier in Cincinnati.

The Cards went 1 for 18 before adding RBIs from Matt Holliday and Allen Craig off Trevor Bell in a two-run seventh.

St. Louis ended a three-game losing streak on opening day, including a blowout loss to the Reds last year.

Wacha (1-0) hadn’t allowed a run in 21 career innings against the Reds before back-to-back doubles by Brayan Pena and pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina in the fifth cut the Cardinals’ lead to 3-1.

The NL championship series MVP benefited from two double-play balls in six stingy innings and has permitted one run in 13 2-3 innings his first two starts.

Wacha threw 82 pitches before getting lifted for a pinch hitter with the Cardinals up by two runs and two on in the sixth. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny wanted to take a shot at putting the Reds away, but thought the right-hander had plenty left.

“That was more of a situation of what’s best for the day, what’s best for that particular game,” Matheny said.

Cingrani needed 31 pitches to get through the first and lasted four innings, striking out five but walking four. Matheny said before the game that his hitters had been a “click off” with timing against the 24-year-old lefty last week and should benefit from another chance so soon.

Pena said he wasn’t trying to make excuses but thought Cingrani was bothered by the elements.

“The baseball was slippery. He couldn’t grab his breaking ball the way he wanted,” Pena said.

Peter Bourjos moved up to second in the order and got his first two hits of the season after an 0-for-13 start. Craig got his third hit and third RBI of the season after entering 2 for 22.

Seeing Wacha once again didn’t do the Reds any good. They’ve totaled 18 runs in seven games.

The start of the game was delayed 12 minutes after the inclement weather combined with pregame ceremonies that featured the traditional grand entrance with players, coaches and Hall of Famers touring Busch Stadium on the back of convertibles and trucks. A team of Clydesdales was kept in the stable due to concerns the field might be damaged.

Interleague

Rockies 8 White Sox 1: In Denver, Jordan Lyles used his arm and bat to lead Colorado over the Chicago White Sox in his home debut for the Rockies.

Lyles (2-0) pitched 6 2-3 effective innings, scattering five hits and walking two. He also had a career-best three hits and drove in two runs. He joined the Rockies from Houston in a trade for Dexter Fowler last winter.

Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki homered for the Rockies.

Chicago right-hander Felipe Paulino (0-1) allowed six earned runs on nine hits and four walks in 4 1-3 innings in his return to Denver, where he pitched for the Rockies in 2011 before being plagued by arm troubles the last two years.