The St. Louis Cardinals' 2011 World Series star got a chance to start in Game 3 and he's immediately made the most of it, hitting a home run in his first at-bat as the team's starting right fielder. The Cardinals got out of the top of the first inning up by a score of 1-0 against the Texas Rangers' left-handed starter, Matt Harrison, on the homer, pulled deep into the stands in left field. Lance Berkman is starting at designated hitter on the basis of his relative experience at the position, not to mention his bad knees.

With Kyle Lohse and Harrison starting at the Ballpark in Arlington one run is unlikely to seal this game for quite as long as it did in Game 2 in Busch Stadium, so Craig's home run has hardly cut the suspense out of this series-untying start. The Rangers have improved their defense with the designated hitter, moving Mike Napoli to first base, sending Yorvit Torrealba out to catch, and putting Michael Young into the DH role. Kyle Lohse struck out two and retired Josh Hamilton on a grounder in the bottom of the inning, maintaining the 1-0 lead—for the moment.