New year, same old Cubs.
The North Side squad opened their season with a thud, Friday, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3.
Pirates' Neil Walker hit a grand slam, Andrew McCutchen also homered and Kevin Correia pitched into the seventh inning
Walker's grand slam came off Ryan Dempster (0-1) on a 3-2 pitch, a long drive to right that ended up on Sheffield Avenue and gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead in the fifth.
Correia (1-0) allowed seven hits and was charged with three runs — two earned — in six-innings plus.
Chicago's loss, before a Wrigley Field crowd of 41,358 on a rainy day, spoiled Mike Quade's first game as the Cubs' full-time manager. He held the post on an interim basis for the final 37 games a year ago.
Copyright The Associated Press
