This was my takeaway as well. The team battled, but in the end the Cards made the margins-type plays in the field to deliver a win.
But for those that didn't like things from last year there were a lot of promising developments: we stole a base in a close game to give ourselves a chance, the team went opposite field a lot, and they didn't do any crazy substitutions. It's early, but all good signs.
You're gonna lose some, things happen.