The Pittsburgh Pirates home opener against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park is this afternoon with a 1:35pm first pitch. Hear the game on WISR 680am beginning at 1:10pm. Tyler Anderson starts for the Pirates. Jake Arrieta for the Cubs.
It is almost 20 years to the day that PNC Park opened for play. The first game was April 9th, 2001 against the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates are 9-11 in home openers at PNC Park.
The Reds defeated the Pirates that day 8-2. They defeated the Bucs 11-4 yesterday to complete a three-game sweep. The Pirates fell behind 5-0 in the first inning, and were never in the game. Chad Kuhl started for the Pirates. He walked five and allowed four earned runs in four innings, despite allowing just two hits. Erik Gonzalez hit a grand-slam home run to account for the Pirates runs in the ninth inning. Infielder Wilmer Difo had three hits for the Bucs. Philip Evans had two.