The Pirates pre-season schedule consisted of 35 games in Bradenton , Florida , including two evening games and a game against the Netherlands national baseball team . When pitchers and catchers reported on February 13 , three of twelve pitching positions were set : starter Paul Maholm , set-up man John Grabow , and closer Matt Capps . The Pirates entered spring training with 21 of 40 different players from 2008 spring training ; among those were Eric Hinske , Ramón Vázquez , and Jason Jaramillo who were acquired during the off-season . Beginning March 5 , Ian Snell , Ramón Vázquez , and John Grabow represented their countries in the 2009 World Baseball Classic . The Pirates finished spring training with a 17 – 15 record . " It gives us some confidence " , said John Russell , " We worked hard all spring . " The Pirates opening day salary was US$ 50,984,000 . The Pirates finalized their opening day roster two days prior to the season opener ( asterisk noting new players for the 2009 season ) : The Pirates opened the season with a 6 – 4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals , scoring four runs in the final inning to win their third consecutive come-from-behind opening day game . The Pirates had 17 hits two games later to beat the Cardinals 7 – 4 , but were held to one hit the next day and split their opening series two games to two . Rain shortened the Pirates ' series in Cincinnati to two games ; Pittsburgh won the first game 10 – 2 after Ryan Doumit hit his first career grand slam in the final inning . On April 13 , the Pirates completed the league 's first triple play of the season and the Pirates ' first in 16 years ; however , they lost the game 2 – 0 . In the team 's home opener on April 13 , Zach Duke pitched a complete game shutout , as the Pirates defeated the Houston Astros , 7 – 0 . In the game , both the Pirates and the Astros wore Pittsburgh Police hats in honor of three officers who were shot and killed on April 4 . The pre-game ceremonies honored the officers , as well as former Pirates pitcher and current broadcaster Steve Blass for this 50th season with the team , and included a flyover by four Apache helicopters from the 1/104th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard . In the first Saturday afternoon game in Pittsburgh since 2005 , Craig Monroe hit two three-run home runs in consecutive innings to give the Pirates their first back-to-back victories of the season . On April 21 , catcher Ryan Doumit announced that surgery was needed to fix a broken bone in his wrist , and that he would miss eight to ten weeks . Later in the day , the Pirates beat the Florida Marlins 3 – 2 , taking them two games above .500 since the first series of the 2007 season . The following day the Pirates swept the Marlins for the first time since 2005 , giving Pittsburgh their best start through 15 games since 2002 . The Pirates took two games out of three against the San Diego Padres , before closing April by getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers . Andy LaRoche hit safely in a career high 11 games during the later part of the month
shot and killed
2009 shooting of Pittsburgh police officers
2009 Pittsburgh Pirates season