SAN DIEGO (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run home run during a four-run first inning, St. Louis’ bullpen held strong after starter Kwang Hyun Kim stumbled in his playoff debut and the Cardinals ruined the San Diego Padres’ long-awaited return to the playoffs with a 7-4 victory in the opener of their NL wild-card series. The Cardinals need one more win to eliminate the Padres from the postseason for the fourth time since 1996. They swept the Padres in the NL Division Series in 1996 and 2005, and won 3-1 in 2006, which was the last time San Diego made the postseason.  Game #2 is this evening at 6:08, with the pregame at 5:13 on KJAN.

UNDATED (AP) — The baseball postseason took on an NCAA Tournament feel Wednesday, with eight games running from noon until well past 1 a.m. Eastern time early Thursday. The bonanza came in a sport where for much of the 20th century, the entire postseason lasted a maximum of seven games. With the playoffs expanded this year to 16 teams, baseball got a day like never before — and perhaps never again. By the end of the night, three teams had been eliminated. The Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians are out, but Oakland forced a winner-take-all Game 3 in its series with the Chicago White Sox.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have shown an uncanny ability through their first three games to absorb injuries and suspensions and keep on winning. But that resilience could be put to the test in another marquee matchup against the New England Patriots on Sunday. Rookie defensive back L’Jarius Sneed already has been ruled out after surgery for the collarbone he broke last weekend against Baltimore, and defensive tackle Chris Jones is dealing with a nagging groin injury. The Chiefs also are without cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who is finishing his four-game suspension.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Anthony Davis and LeBron James had big nights as the Los Angeles Lakers took Game 1 of the NBA Finals, 116-98 over the Miami Heat. Davis finished with a game-high 34 points and James finished one assist shy of a triple-double, providing 25 points and 13 rebounds. Jimmy Butler had a team-high 23 points for the Heat, who finished the game without starters Goran Dragic (DRAH’-gihch) and Bam Adebayo (ad-eh-BY’-oh) because of injuries.