The excitement of Pirates baseball returning has been brewing since the heartbreaker in last year’s NL Wild Card game, but the Pirates haven’t hit their stride yet.

Opening day was strongly anticipated by all Pirate fans, but their bubble was busted when Reds’ third baseman Todd Frazier hit a three-run homer run against shut-down lefty Tony Watson. Many fans (bandwagon), started to get on the 2014 All-Star’s case after the homer, but they don’t realize that he’s one of the most shut down relievers in the game.

Before the game, it was announced that Pirate fan-favorite Josh Harrison signed a four-year, $27.3 M with two options years. The contract could reach $50 M by the end of the deal.

Game two of the season also had a ton of hype surrounding it; Pirates’ potential phenom pitcher Gerrit Cole took the ball for the club.

The game was back and forth most of the night. The Reds would score and the Pirates would answer and vice versa.

With that in mind, the game was tied for most of the night, and the game ended up going eleven innings. When all was said and done, the game finished around 2 a.m., not just because of extra innings, but because there was a 2-hour and 34-minute rain delay that halted the original start time.

Ultimately, the Pirates lost that game, too. Joey Votto collected his second and most important hit of the game, when he drove in Reds’ speed demon Billy Hamilton to win the game in the bottom of the eleventh. The loss was charged to Pirate newcomer Radhames Liz.

In game three, A.J. Burnett took the ball for the Buccos, and he was brilliant for 5.1 innings until Joey Votto stepped up to the plate. Votto hammered a slightly hung curveball from Burnett and that ended Burnett’s day, but, all in all, it was a well-pitched game and something to build on for his next start.

This game was also lost in a heartbreaking way. Gregory Polanco muffed a line drive off the bat of former Pirate Marlon Byrd, and it led to Frazier again crossing the plate and the Redlegs barely squeaking past Pittsburgh again.

Despite the 0-3 start, there’s no need to fret if you’re a Pirate fan. All MLB teams go through rough patches during the year, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees, or anyone else, so don’t lose any hope this early.

Also, it’s not out of the ordinary for Pirates to have a rough April, they usually do.

Other news for the series:

-Reds’ speedster Billy Hamilton killed the Pirates all series with his wheels; he stole six bases altogether.

-Another Red killed the Pirates the entire series, and his name is Todd Frazier. Frazier was a hitting machine during the series, and that includes two home runs total against Pirates’ flame-throwers Gerrit Cole and Tony Watson. Both homers were very impressive as he turned on mid to upper 90s fastballs on the inside part of the plate.

-Andrew Lambo, a Pirate bench player, had some very good at-bats during the game. Even though he didn’t record a hit, he still had hard outs and made pitchers throw a lot of pitches.

-The long awaited debut is over, Jung-ho Kang made his first MLB appearance with the Pirates in game two. He grounded out to third base.

-Tony Watson bounced back in game two and three after a rough inning pitched on opening day.

Next Series:

The Pirates and Brewers are set to do battle at Miller Park from April 10-12.