It’s hard to believe, but the most important at-bat came two batters into the bottom of the second inning.
Josh Harrison was facing St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright, with Gregory Polanco on second base after a lead-off double that hit off the Clemente Wall in right field. Harrison took a 2-1 offering and hit a ground ball, which allowed Polanco to advance to third base.
Not only did this move a runner forward, something which was not done in the first inning when the Pittsburgh Pirates stranded two men, but also forced Wainwright (0-1) to have to focus on Jordy Mercer.
Wainwright lost Mercer, walking him and immediately allowed a single to Francisco Liriano, his mound opponent. That was when Wainwright lost the game.
The Pirates scored two runs in that second inning, and defeated the Cardinals by a 4-1 score in front of 39,500 fans.
In addition to Liriano’s (1-0) single, which came on the first pitch, the next pitch was also deposited into the outfield by John Jaso for a second RBI single.
Harrison contributed to the other two runs, as well. He flew into a sacrifice double play in the sixth inning that plated Francisco Cervelli and hit a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning. Ultimately Polanco scored in that inning on a Mercer double.
Hurdle’s decision pays off
Tony Watson has been known as the eighth-inning guy, but manager Clint Hurdle took one look at the Cardinals bench, loaded with left-handed bats and decided his setup man would be the way to go for the seventh inning.
Hurdle told reporters prior to this game that if the situation called for it, that he would pitch Watson in the seventh inning and Neftali Feliz would set up the eighth inning.
Hurdle indicated he’d be more flexible in using Watson in the 7th this year and, so, here he is. He’ll start the inning.
— David Manel (@DavidManel) April 3, 2016
Pinch-hitter Jeremy Hazelbaker, Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams – all left-handed bats – were due to hit in the seventh inning, so Hurdle decided Watson was his guy.
Watson quickly set that trio down and Feliz also faced the minimum amount of hitters in the eighth.
Hurdle elected to pitch his closer Mark Melancon in the ninth inning. On the surface, it was a head-scratching decision because there was no save to be had. However, Melancon did not pitch in Saturday’s exhibition game against the Cincinnati Reds.
Melancon worked himself into a small jam and allowed Matt Carpenter to single, which represented the lone Cardinals run.
Frankie did it his way
Francisco Liriano had a game to remember and in doing so etched his name for a second time among the most effective Opening Day performances in team history.
It was not pretty at times as Liriano did walk five batters in his six innings, but what mattered the most was the zero runs allowed and 10 strikeouts while holding the Cardinals to three hits.
Liriano’s 10 strikeouts tied the Pirates Opening Day record with Bob Veale, John Candelaria, A.J. Burnett and Liriano himself in 2014.
The record was tied when he got Cardinals cleanup hitter Randal Grichuk to strike out on a 3-2 slider in the sixth inning.
Here’s the line on Frankie.#OpeningDayPNC pic.twitter.com/it1ttiTg2w
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 3, 2016
Up next
Both teams are off Monday, but the second game of this series will be played Tuesday.
Pirates free agent acquisition Jonathon Niese (9-10 4.13 ERA in 2015) will face Michael Wacha (17-7 3.38 ERA in 2015). Niese is 4-3 with a 3.10 ERA in nine career starts against the Cardinals.
Photo credit: @Pirates
