Opening Day of the 2013 Major League Baseball season happened to fall on April Fools’ Day this year, much to Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett’s chagrin.

Burnett, the 36-year-old ace of the Pirates’ pitching staff, took the hill for Monday’s matchup against the Chicago Cubs. At one point during the game, Burnett bent over and picked up the mound’s rosin bag, something that every pitcher does at least a few times per game. This time, however, the rosin bag exploded, covering the unsuspecting hurler in a cloud of dust.

Burnett immediately turned to face the Pirates dugout, though whether he was looking for a new glove or a potential prankster is unclear. Yahoo Sports notes that Burnett is a notorious prankster in his own right, known for pie-ing his teammates during post-game interviews.

For his part, Burnett is unsure as to whether the exploding rosin bag was an actual April Fools’ prank.

"If so, it was a pretty good one," Burnett said during his post-game interview. "That's my day: One [bad] pitch [for a two-run homer by Anthony Rizzo] and the rosin bag."

The rosin bag explosion didn’t seem affect Burnett too badly. The Pirates ace still managed to rack up 10 strikeouts in his five-plus innings of work. Still, the Pirates’ lineup couldn’t mount any offense and ultimately lost the game, 3-1.

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