PITTSBURGH — Garrett Jones had the farthest hit Monday at PNC Park.

Ryan Church had the biggest.

The 31-year-old outfielder made his Pirates debut count, delivering a pinch-hit, three-run double in the fifth inning of the Bucs' 11-5 Opening Day win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Church's plate appearance caused a premature end to starting pitcher Zach Duke's day. Duke and the Pirates had a 4-2 lead at the time and the left-hander had just blanked the Dodgers for a fourth straight inning.

Duke worked only five innings and threw 79 pitches — 54 for strikes.

"I had no problem with that move whatsoever," Duke said. "That was a situation where we needed to score some runs and Church put a great swing on the ball."

The Pirates had loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning, only to see Ronny Cedeno bounce into a 1-2-3 double play and Aki Iwamura fly out to left to end the threat.

Trailing 4-2 in the fifth, the Dodgers walked Jeff Clement intentionally to load the bases with one out. Andy LaRoche popped out to third for the second out, bringing up Duke, who was batting eighth.

Pirates manager John Russell would have none of it.

"That's why we've got good hitters on the bench," Russell said. "We had an opportunity to break the game open. I wasn't going to pass on it."

Church was the Opening Day starter in right field for the New York Mets — a team expected to contend in the NL East — the past two seasons.

Now he's serving a bench role on a Pirates team many believe is ticketed for a 100-loss season. Church signed as a free agent, figuring he'd have a shot at the right field job.

When the team decided to go with Clement at first base and Garrett Jones in right, Church became a fourth outfielder.

"Sure, I'd rather be starting," he said. "But you don't sit around and mope or pout about it. Keep working hard and good things will happen. I'll get my share of at-bats here.

"This was a great way to break in with a new team. I've played in this park before, but I've never heard it as loud as it was today."

Church drilled a 2-0 fastball into the right-center field gap. As the ball rolled to the wall, all three runners scored and the Pirates had a 7-2 lead.

"The first pitch was called a little high. ... It might have been a strike, so I was thankful for that one," Church said, smiling. "Then (Ramon Ortiz) missed with a changeup.

"I was sitting on a fastball for that third pitch. If he threw one, I wasn't going to miss it."

He didn't.

Church knew all about the negativity surrounding the Pirates' losing ways when he signed with the team.

"It's all just talk. We can't pay attention to that outside stuff we can't control," he said. "We'll stay focused, play hard every day and see where it takes us.

"I'll say this much. This team has a lot of weapons off the bench. It's going to be a fun year that way."

Some notes on Opening Day Monday at PNC Park:• The 11 runs scored by the Pirates marked the most in a home opener in the franchise's 124-year history.• Paid attendance was 39,024, the fourth largest crowd in PNC Park history.• Garrett Jones became the sixth Pirate to homer twice on Opening Day, joining Xavier Nady (2008), Andy Van Slyke (1990), Willie Stargell (1975), Richie Hebner (1974) and Dale Long (1956).• Jones' first-inning homer traveled 456 feet and was the 28th home run in PNC Park's nine-year history to wind up in the Allegheny River.• Andrew McCutchen was honored for being named Baseball America's 2009 NL Rookie of the Year.• The Pirates have won four consecutive season openers for the first time since 1935-40.