The Pirates first game of the 2011 MLB season was very promising for Bucs fans. Kevin Correia was the starter in the 6-3 win over Chicago at Wrigley Field yesterday afternoon.
The Pirates started off slow, going three-up, three-down in two out of their first three at bats. The Cubs took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first due to a throwing error committed by third baseman Pedro Alvarez. After a scoreless second inning, Cubs’ shortstop Starlin Castro scored off of a Carlos Pena RBI.
Down 2-0 on the road at Wrigley, the 5th inning wound up being the turning point for the Buccos. With two outs, and the bases loaded, second baseman Neil Walker hit a grand slam to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead. He became just the second Pirate next to Clemente to hit a grand slam on opening day.
Correia, who had three strikeouts for the afternoon, went on to pitch two consecutive shutout innings. Then in the 7th, Andrew McCutcheon hit a two-run homer to extend the Pirates lead.
In the bottom of the 7th, Cubs’ second baseman Darwin Barney singled on a deflection that went off of Correia’s glove. Garett Olson was then sent in to relieve Correia. Olson struck out his first batter, Tyler Colvin, but then gave up an RBI single to Kosuke Fukudome. That was the Cubs’ final run of the afternoon, as Correia was credited with the win, and Joel Hanrahan the save.
The Bucs impressive win on a rainy day at Wrigley was certainly the start us fans were hoping for.
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