I was at the game today sitting in section 314 and it was just a gorgeous day for baseball - probably the best weather I've seen for an Opening Day for as long as I can remember. Even better than that, the Pirates actually found a way to win the game this year, which they hadn't been able to do for the last three years.
I can't sit here and say how great Francisco Liriano looked, because I really couldn't see how his pitches were moving or how his location really was. Anyone who watches the game from section 314 and tells you they can tell how a pitcher's stuff is looking is a liar. The numbers are real though, six scoreless innings with ten strikeouts - right back into 2013 form it seems. I posted Liriano's pitch f/x here, which I'll try to do as often as I can. You can check that out, watch the highlights, and make your own opinions on how he really looked. One start is nothing to get too excited about, especially when that one start comes against the Cubs, but he couldn't have started his year off much better.
The rest of the bullpen got their job done as well. The Pirates got scoreless innings from Tony Watson, Mark Melancon, Bryan Morris, and Jason Grilli, Watson being the only one not to have to strand a runner. I was keeping an eye on the radar gun when Grill was on the hill, and the pitch f/x show that his fastball sat around 94-96 in his outing. He topped out at 95.9, according to Brooks Baseball. His average velocity in 2013 was 93.3, so it seems his fastball has just as much if not more zip on it this year than last year - which is always good to see from your aging closer. I don't think anybody had any worries about the bullpen coming into this season, and they showed us why today.
The offense was a bit rough. Before Neil Walker's walk off solo home run the team only collected five hits, all but one of which were singles. Two singles came from Travis Ishikawa who had a nice game with a couple slick defensive plays as well. Russell Martin and Andrew McCutchen added the other two singles and Starling Marte had a lead-off double and was then stranded. Pedro Alvarez hit one ball well, but right into a shift for a double play, and he struck out twice. One at bat came against a left-handed pitcher. For what I can see he didn't look all that bad in the box.
You can't take too much from one game, but it's always good to see your pitching staff get out on the right foot - especially with how much we depended on the staff last year to get the team through when their offense goes on their dry spells. It's always a confidence lift to win the first one and look good doing it. The offense is going to unpredictable like it always is, and probably won't finish anywhere near the top of the league in terms of raw numbers, but they showed last year that that's not necessarily a needed ingredient for success.
The big story before the game was the reception that Barry Bonds would receive from the fans. I took a video of the reception (with an iPhone 5S mind you, not the greatest sound quality) that you can check out below. There were some scattered boos and cheers - the reception was pretty neutral to my ears, but check it out for yourself.
Now we have the always hated day off after a very exciting day of baseball and the Pirates will be back in action Wednesday night when Charlie Morton faces Jason Hammel on dollar night at PNC Park. Tickets are ridiculously cheap as they always are for the season's second game, so I'd recommend checking that out. I'll be back with more tomorrow.