Baseball is here!

The Pirates are undefeated!! No April Fools Day joke here, Xavier Nady hit his second homer of the game, a 3-run shot, in the bottom of the 12th and the Pirates hung on for an opening day win against the Braves. It wasn't pretty though. Pittsburgh choked up a 5 run lead in the bottom of the ninth and nearly lost their 3 run lead in the bottom of the 12th. Offense(or more appropriately, bad defense) was the name of the game as the two bullpens combined to allow 17 runs. At the plate, most of the Buccos started the season off on the right foot with a team batting average of .347 for the game, including Nady's 4-for-7. Not getting involved was Jason Bay, who continued his lackluster play from last year by failing to get a hit in 6 plate appearances. But don't worry, Bay was just as good on defense, as he let a 2-out pop fly fall to the grass in the ninth, letting the Braves score two runs and tie the game.

New manager John Russell got a win in his first game as a big league manager, and will try to improve to 2-0 as the Pirates stay in Atlanta to take on the Braves again Wednesday and Thursday. As of now, it will be impossible for the Pirates to fall below .500 until at least Thursday, a full 4 days into the season. Things are really looking up in the Steel City.