Chris Archer was so fired up to start his first home opener as a Pirate that his teammates were offering odds on how many batters it would take before the right-hander let out his first yell.

Beforehand, Trevor Williams said the over/under was 1.5.

The under was a safe play, as Archer let one out after catching leadoff batter Matt Carpenter looking on a strikeout for the game’s first out.

“He’ll start jumping and screaming,” Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli predicted. “He’s 30 years old but looks like 20 or 18. He’s like a little kid.”

The backpedal would have been a perfect prop bet.

Archer had eight strikeouts over five innings, allowing two hits and three walks. His celebrations ranged from primal screams to a backpedal off the mound and toward the dugout after Harrison Bader got caught looking at a strike on the outside corner.

Archer’s performance was worth the price of admission for the announced crowd of 37,336 that attended the Pirates’ home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday at PNC Park.

If only the Pirates could have protected his four-run lead.

Instead …

1. Stay Gold: Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson received his Gold Glove Award trophy from Rawlings in a pregame presentation with former Pirates All-Star center fielder Andy Van Slyke, a five-time Gold Glove winner.

When Dickerson arrived last spring in a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays, it was with a reputation as a designated hitter who wielded a big bat but was below average defensively.

Not only did Dickerson hit .300, but he shined in left field, taking advantage of his opportunity as an everyday outfielder.

With Dickerson in left and Starling Marte in center, the Pirates once again have a pair of Gold Glove winners in their starting outfield.

Now, Dickerson wants to win another by repeating the formula.

“Getting a Gold Glove is very special to me and my family, but you’ve still got to go out there and perform and play,” Dickerson said. “It reminds me to continue to do the little things right and the big things will fall into place.”

2. Cap tip: The pregame ceremony continued with the celebration of 88-year-old Dick Groat, the star shortstop from Swissvale who is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes Western Pennsylvania has ever produced.

Groat recently completed his final season after 40 years as the Pitt basketball color analyst, and his longtime association with that sport has overshadowed his decorated baseball career.

An eight-time All-Star, he collected 2,138 hits in his career and won the World Series with the 1960 Pirates and ’64 Cardinals. He batted .325 and was the ’60 NL MVP.

It was great to see Groat wearing a Pirates No. 24 jersey — on the day Archer wore the same number — and tip his cap to the crowd. It was even better to have Steve Blass, who is retiring from the broadcast booth after his 60th season with the club, present Groat a trophy as a token of appreciation.

3. Ring the Bell: Manager Clint Hurdle believes in Josh Bell enough to proclaim the first baseman the Pirates’ cleanup hitter, despite coming off a 12-homer, 62-RBI sophomore season.

Where Bell said he spent the offseason unplugged and looking at himself in the mirror, he also watched video of his 26-homer, 90-RBI rookie season as a reminder of what he did right.

“I’ve spent hours looking at outs, and I’ve spent hours looking at balls I’ve put in the seats,” Bell said.

4. Key moment: The seventh was a struggle for the Pirates, as Richard Rodriguez surrendered his second homer of the season and then encountered bad breaks when Bader reached on a broken-bat single and third baseman Colin Moran booted a grounder at third for an error.

Francisco Liriano, who had 10 strikeouts against the Cardinals in the 2016 home opener, was brought in to face the left-handed Carpenter and walked him to load the bases with no outs.

That put Keone Kela in the pressure cooker. He got off to a rough start by walking Goldschmidt to score Bader and cut it to 4-3. But Kela rebounded, forcing Paul DeJong to fly out to center and then striking out Marcell Ozuna and Yadier Molina to get out of the jam with the lead intact.

Protecting it was another story.

5. Home Opener Hero: Jung Ho Kang had waited 915 days to play at PNC Park, and Hurdle delayed his return by starting Moran at third.

Hurdle had good reason.

Moran hit a grand slam in his debut at PNC Park in the 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins last year and didn’t disappoint in his first appearance this season.

Batting sixth, Moran came to bat with runners on first and third and doubled down the right-field line to score Marte and Francisco Cervelli for a 3-0 lead.

While his error played a role in the Cardinals’ comeback — they tied it at 4-4 on Tyler O’Neill’s RBI double off Nick Burdi in the eighth — Moran made up for it in the bottom of the eighth. Moran jacked a Mike Mayers 1-1 fastball to right for a home run and a 5-4 lead.

The Cardinals, however, took advantage of an error by shortstop Erik Gonzalez in the ninth and tied it at 5-5 on a double to deep center by Jose Martinez off All-Star closer Felipe Vazquez to force extra innings.

Steven Brault got the Pirates through the 10th and through two outs in the 11th before allowing a single to DeJong, hitting pinch-hitter Matt Wieters with a pitch and walking Molina to load the bases.

That forced the Pirates to use Nick Kingham, and DeJong scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball by Cervelli to give the Cardinals a 6-5 lead. Starling Marte hit into a double play to end the game.

And a game that started with a scream ended with the Bucs doing a backpedal.

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