Tony La Russa led the Chicago White Sox against the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series.

La Russa led the Cardinals to a pair of World Series titles earlier in his managerial career.

"It's definitely a different series," La Russa said. "It's uncomfortable, it's distracting and you just try to tune it out, but I know it's a different series."

"I used to say this about managing against Jim Leyland: When you're friends, you don't want your friends to have a bad day. That's why you're glad when the three games are over," he said.

The White Sox defeated the Cardinals 5-1 on Monday night.