The Pittsburgh Pirates had a special first pitch thrown by a famous manager who will enter the Hall of Fame, a strong start from a new right-handed pitcher and two home runs in the home opener.
But they did not win.
The Baltimore Orioles played the spoiler, scoring three runs against the bullpen and winning 5-2 in front of a full crowd of 38,400 at PNC Park on Friday afternoon.
After Hall of Fame inductee Jim Leyland threw the first pitch to Pirates manager Derek Shelton, Jared Jones (1-1) had his first quality start for the Pirates. The 22-year-old rookie struck out seven, allowed two solo home runs out of six hits, and didn't give up any walks.
Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (2-0) had a similar strong start. Rodriguez also allowed two solo homers and two walks while striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings.
Despite a request for fans to wear black clothes, snow flurries and dropping temperatures greeted the Pirates fans.
Jones started strong, striking out three batters in a row with fastballs reaching up to 98.9 mph before giving up a home run to Ryan O'Hearn.
Jones used a mix of pitches in the second inning, but the Orioles caught on and scored a home run and a single before Jones managed to get the third out.
The Orioles hit another home run off Jones in the third inning, giving them a 2-0 lead.
The Pirates struggled to bring runners home in the first three innings. Andrew McCutchen, just one home run away from his 300th, flied out and popped foul to end innings with runners in scoring position.
O'Hearn started the fourth inning with a triple due to a miscommunication between the Pirates' outfielders.
Cedric Mullins was initially called safe, but the call was overturned after review. Jones then struck out the next batter.
Oneil Cruz cut the Pirates' deficit by hitting a home run in the fifth inning, making the score 2-1.
With Jones at 80 pitches and facing the Orioles lineup for the third time, the Pirates brought in lefty Ryan Borucki in the seventh inning. He struck out the first batter but then gave up consecutive singles, allowing the Orioles to extend their lead to 3-1.
Hunter Stratton took the place of Borucki, but then Santander hit a hard grounder along the third-base line for an RBI double to bring in Henderson and make the score 4-1.
Triolo started the bottom of the seventh by hitting Rodriguez's first-pitch fastball 411 feet into the visiting bullpen for his first home run of the season in his first home opener.
But Mullins began the eighth by hitting Stratton's 2-0 cutter 366 feet and off the right-field foul pole for a home run, giving the Orioles a 5-2 lead.
Baltimore struck out 10 of the final 14 Pirates batters, and Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel retired the side in the ninth to secure the save.
