Neil Walker’s 10th inning blast sends Pirates home victorious

Mar 31, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Neil Walker (18) reacts as he rounds the bases aftr hitting a walk-off home run against the Chicago Cubs during the tenth inning of an opening day baseball game at PNC Park. The Pirates won 1-0 in ten innings. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Villanueva must think he looks really intimidating with that silent movie villain handlebar mustache.

Don’t tell that to Neil Walker who faced down Villanueva in the bottom of the tenth Monday afternoon, fearlessly, and took Snidely Whiplash downtown.

That is a walk-off solo shot for Walker.

And that was also the sum total of all the scoring on opening day for the Cubs and Pirates. It was 0-0 when Walker went deep on Villanueva.

Great pitching or terrible hitting?

In the Cubs’ case, it was partly terrible luck with replays.

Two replays went against the Cubs in Monday’s game. First Rick Renteria lost a challenge on a play where Jeff Samardzija was called out at first.

Later, the Cubs came out on the short end of an automatic challenge when Pedro Bonifacio, originally ruled safe on a pick off at first, was called out.

Both replays took runners off base for the Cubs. Not that they would have necessarily been able to drive them in anyway.

Yup, looks like #Cubes is back in effect for 2014.

For the Pirates, great way to start the new season.

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