PITTSBURGH -- After all the flags and the '13 awards hardware were in place on Monday at PNC Park, it was time for what Clint Hurdle had been anticipating for months: A new season, a new chance, another ballgame."The beauty of all the pageantry," the Pirates manager had said, "is all that will stop, and we'll get to play a game -- and that game will start a journey."The journey began afoot … as in a walk-off.Neil Walker led off the bottom of the 10th with a home run off Carlos Villanueva to give the Bucs a 1-0 victory in front of a rocking house at PNC Park.Walker's shot into the right-field seats beyond the Clemente Wall concluded the Bucs' first Opening Day walk-off win since Sept. 12, 1965, when Bob Bailey's 10th-inning homer gave them a 1-0 win over San Francisco in Forbes Field."There's 161 games left, but that's a good way to start," Walker said. 
The game also featured the first extended instant replay challenge in MLB history, as Cubs manager Rick Renteria challenged a call that Jeff Samardzija was out in the fifth inning, and it was confirmed. Hurdle challenged a call in the 10th after Emilio Bonifacio was called safe when Bryan Morris attempted to pick him off, and that call was overturned.The starting journey transported the Cubs and the Pirates past a landscape barren of runs into extra inningsAfter 8 1/2 innings of brilliant pitching on both sides, the game for the Cubs almost became a Grimm tale. Right-hander Justin Grimm came on to open the bottom of the ninth by walking Travis Snider, an invitation to mayhem with the heart of the Pittsburgh lineup following.However, Grimm struck out Andrew McCutchen before making way for left-hander James Russell, who had an appointment with Pedro Alvarez. Russell fanned the left-handed hitter, then got Russell Martin to line out into the left-field corner and extend Opening Day into overtime.The starting pitching was as brilliant as the weather, with Pittsburgh's Francisco Liriano matching the Bucs' traditional Opening Day nemesis, Samardzija for six shutout innings.The Pirates had seen this Samardzija before, even in a season opener: He had blanked them on two hits for eight innings a year ago, setting up a 3-1 Chicago victory.But the Bucs had also seen this Liriano in all of his Comeback Player of the Year 2013 season. Connecting the dots separated by six months, Liriano was brilliant for six shutout innings, all the time he needed to tie a Pittsburgh record for strikeouts in a season opener, 10. A.J. Burnett had done that last year, and John Candelaria (1983) and Bob Veale (1965) long before that.Fittingly, Liriano and Samardzija battled to a draw. Liriano allowed four hits in his six innings, the Cubs right-hander five in his seven.Then they handed things off to their respective bullpens, and the relievers kept posting zeros. For the Pirates, Tony Watson, Mark Melancon, Jason Grilli and Morris. For the Cubs, Pedro Strop, Grimm and Russell.Tom Singer / MLB.com
The game also featured the first extended instant replay challenge in MLB history, as Cubs manager Rick Renteria challenged a call that Jeff Samardzija was out in the fifth inning, and it was confirmed. Hurdle challenged a call in the 10th after Emilio Bonifacio was called safe when Bryan Morris attempted to pick him off, and that call was overturned.The starting journey transported the Cubs and the Pirates past a landscape barren of runs into extra inningsAfter 8 1/2 innings of brilliant pitching on both sides, the game for the Cubs almost became a Grimm tale. Right-hander Justin Grimm came on to open the bottom of the ninth by walking Travis Snider, an invitation to mayhem with the heart of the Pittsburgh lineup following.However, Grimm struck out Andrew McCutchen before making way for left-hander James Russell, who had an appointment with Pedro Alvarez. Russell fanned the left-handed hitter, then got Russell Martin to line out into the left-field corner and extend Opening Day into overtime.The starting pitching was as brilliant as the weather, with Pittsburgh's Francisco Liriano matching the Bucs' traditional Opening Day nemesis, Samardzija for six shutout innings.The Pirates had seen this Samardzija before, even in a season opener: He had blanked them on two hits for eight innings a year ago, setting up a 3-1 Chicago victory.But the Bucs had also seen this Liriano in all of his Comeback Player of the Year 2013 season. Connecting the dots separated by six months, Liriano was brilliant for six shutout innings, all the time he needed to tie a Pittsburgh record for strikeouts in a season opener, 10. A.J. Burnett had done that last year, and John Candelaria (1983) and Bob Veale (1965) long before that.Fittingly, Liriano and Samardzija battled to a draw. Liriano allowed four hits in his six innings, the Cubs right-hander five in his seven.Then they handed things off to their respective bullpens, and the relievers kept posting zeros. For the Pirates, Tony Watson, Mark Melancon, Jason Grilli and Morris. For the Cubs, Pedro Strop, Grimm and Russell.Tom Singer / MLB.com
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