We may not learn much about the Cards today, due to the ominous Wall of Water sitting just to the north and west of the ballpark. Massive rainfall is in the offing.

But we discovered this much: Skip Schumaker can really go get a fly ball.

He started Opening Day in left field. With the Rockies throwing lefty Jeff Francis, Ryan Ludwick batted in the No. 2 slot and played right field. With Chris Duncan on the bench, the Cards enjoyed uncommon outfield defensive range.

Schumaker’s full extension diving catch in left-center field kept Colorado from opening up a big lead on Cards starting pitcher Adam Wainwright.

With speedy Willy Taveras on first base, Schumaker raced to the gap to rob Troy Tulowitzki of a RBI double. Since Todd Helton followed that blast with a double into the right field corner, the first inning could have gotten away from Wainwright in a hurry.

As it was, Colorado got only one run — on a broken-bat RBI groundout by Garrett Atkins.

Then Schumaker did his lead-off thing well, drawing a walk to start the bottom of the first. Skip picked right up where he left off in spring training. Ludwick also drew a walk, helping his cause while Colby Rasmus polishes his skills at the Class AAA level.

Rick Ankiel got his season off to a promising start. With the bases loaded and one out, he ripped a 3-1 pitch into the right field corner for a two-run double.

Now the bottom of the batting order was up for a test. Yadier Molina came up with runners on second and third and one out. With Cesar Izturis and Wainwright on deck, Francis could work Molina carefully.

But Molina expanded his strike zone, pushing a low-and-away pitch through Todd Helton for two more runs. Then Izturis singled up the middle to ease concerns about his miserable early spring.

Wainwright, hitting eighth, came up in an obvious bunting situation. But he swung away instead and popped out. Then Aaron Miles, the “second leadoff hitter” on Opening Day grounded out to end the rally.

This was a good offensive start for the Cards. Francis lacked his usual command and The Home Team showed good discipline at the plate.