ST. LOUIS — An unofficial holiday in the greater St. Louis area, Opening Day at Busch Stadium just hits differently.

Forty-degree temperatures did little to deter over 47,000 fans from attending the St. Louis Cardinals’ home opener Thursday afternoon, with streets, restaurants and bars downtown packed as early as 9 a.m. The excitement for the day mirrored that of the team. An offseason removed from one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, the Cardinals arrived at their ballpark eager to give their fan base something to cheer about.

They provided a performance that brought exactly that.

Fueled by a five-run seventh inning and without several starters, the Cardinals took advantage of a slew of defensive miscues by the Miami Marlins and rallied their way to an 8-5 victory. It’s difficult to draw meaningful conclusions about a team just one week into a season, but there’s one thing to note about the Cardinals so far.

They sure are scrappy.

“If I can narrow it down to one thing, this club is going to fight,” manager Oli Marmol said after the game. “I think we’ve shown that in a short period of time. If there’s one thing we’re going to do, we’re going to fight. There’s not a whole lot of panic in that group.”

Numerous injuries ranging in severity led to the team being short-handed — so much so that Marmol was not able to set a lineup until three hours before game time. Matt Carpenter landed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain before Thursday’s game, and Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan were sidelined after they were hit by pitches in Wednesday’s loss to the San Diego Padres. Already down Tommy Edman, Lars Nootbaar and Dylan Carlson, Marmol had to get creative with the 10 available position players he had for first pitch. He ultimately went with a lineup that had Victor Scott II leading off, Michael Siani in left field and Iván Herrera hitting cleanup.

But the lineup, unorthodox as it was, came through quickly. Siani laid out for a sinking liner and secured it for an out on the first play of the game. An inning later, Herrera — who didn’t know he was hitting cleanup for the first time until after batting practice — hammered a 1-0 sinker from Marlins starter Ryan Weathers, crushing it 414 feet for his first career home run.

Have yourself a moment Iván Herrera!

First career homer on @Cardinals #OpeningDay! pic.twitter.com/jQSB8Nueq8

— MLB (@MLB) April 4, 2024

“Running the bases, looking at the fans, that was a dream come true for me,” Herrera said. “I think that was the best moment, and winning the game, that was one of the best things I’ve experienced in baseball.”

The one-run lead wouldn’t hold, and the Cardinals’ grit would be tested. Lance Lynn limited the Marlins to one run and seven strikeouts over four innings but served up back-to-back home runs to Josh Bell and Jake Burger in the fifth to give Miami a 4-1 lead. The Cardinals trailed 5-3 heading into the seventh, but with their heart of the order due up, they once again showed the gumption and resilience they often lacked last season.

An error on a groundball by Luis Arraez sparked a St. Louis rally. Paul Goldschmidt reached safely on the booted ball and advanced to second on a hot-shot single from Nolan Arenado. Herrera came through again, singling in Goldschmidt, and he and Arenado scored on a Nolan Gorman double. Jordan Walker’s flyout moved Gorman to third, and he scored on an RBI single from Alec Burleson. The Cardinals took advantage of another defensive mistake one play later when right fielder Jesús Sánchez couldn’t come up with a fly ball down the right-field line from Masyn Winn. The ball clanged off Sánchez’s glove, allowing Burleson to score the inning’s fifth run with ease while Winn raced around third for an easy triple.

Triples is best!!#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/xbntLICcFZ

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 4, 2024

The Marlins, the only team in baseball yet to win a game, couldn’t recover. JoJo Romero recorded a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Ryan Helsley slammed the door for the save, preserving a convincing win for a Cardinals team that just won’t quit.

“This team is so confident in the guy behind them,” Winn said. “It’s ‘who wants it next?’ Right now it feels like a race to the bat rack.”

“We take advantage,” he added. “We took advantage of that error at second base and just kept it going. None of these guys in here are selfish, man. It’s really just, hit it and pass it back. Who’s the next guy up? With that mindset, we’re all ready to go every day. And we’re all confident, every single person in this clubhouse.”

Perhaps that’s the most convincing element of Thursday’s performance. Trailing by 3 and with eight players on the injured list (and two more on the roster but unavailable to play), the Cardinals clawed their way to a win with a spunky spirit that was noticeably missing last season. For a team that will be facing heavy scrutiny this year, they sure have responded encouragingly.

“The energy is there,” Contreras said. “The at-bats that we’re taking and the energy we’re putting in day in and day out is just amazing. I think we’re going to have a good year. That’s what we worked for, and that’s what we’re here for.”

At long last, Cardinals baseball is back at Busch Stadium. Thursday’s victory served as a reminder of what that should look like.

(Photo of JoJo Romero: Jeff Curry / USA Today)