The 2016 major league baseball season is officially underway, with Francisco Liriano the driving force behind the Pittsburgh Pirates' 4-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park in the first game of the season.
Francisco Liriano leads baseball in both strikeouts and RBI
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
This was the first of three games on Sunday, as MLB got a jump start on opening day.
Liriano threw six scoreless innings on Sunday and struck out 10, matching the most punchouts by a Pirates starter on opening day dating back to 1913, a mark achieved by Liriano in 2014 as well.
But Liriano is paid to pitch, so his performance on the mound wasn’t all that out of the ordinary. But at the plate, where Liriano entered play Sunday a career .121/.159/.149 hitter, he drove in the first run of the MLB season with a single in a two-run second inning.
This won't hold up over the course of the season, but at the moment Liriano has the major league lead in strikeouts and is tied for the lead in RBI, the latter tied with three teammates and Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter, who drove home the Cardinals' only run of the game with two outs in the ninth inning.
Former Cardinal World Series MVP David Freese started at third base for Pittsburgh and had two hits in his Pirates debut. Francisco Cervelli had two hits of his own, including a sixth-inning triple, and a walk.
These two teams combined for 198 wins in 2015 and figure to each contend again with the juggernaut Chicago Cubs at the top of the National League Central, arguably MLB's most top-heavy division. The Cardinals and Pirates are off on Monday, but resume their three-game series on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.
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