If it was a strike, would it have meant a longer summer?

The Pittsburgh Pirates invited groundhog Punxsutawney Phil to "throw" the ceremonial first pitch ahead of their matinee game against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 30.

The Groundhog Day staple was presented to the fans at PNC Park and briefly touched the ball before a handler from the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, dressed in ceremonial attire including a top hat, threw the pitch to the Pirate Parrot on the infield grass.

The team presented Phil with a jersey and broadcast footage showed outfielder Oneil Cruz attempting to feed the groundhog.

The Cardinals completed a four-game mid-week sweep of the Pirates with a 10-5 win, sending the three-river dwellers to .500 on the year.

Home runs from JJ Wetherholt and Jordan Walker in the top of the first, as well as a five-run eighth inning, handed Pirates ace Paul Skenes his second loss on the year. The Buccos' Cy Young winner is still looking for his first career victory over the Cardinals.

When asked about why he struggles against Pittsburgh's NL Central foes in media availability following the game, Skenes responded: "They score more runs than us."

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Phil makes his annual prediction at Gobbler’s Knob, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, about 80 miles from PNC Park. Every year, thousands gather there to celebrate the holiday and to find out if the groundhog sees his shadow, which signals six more weeks of winter.

He is the most notable of the 88 weather-forecasting groundhogs recognized by groundhog-day.com, which bills itself as the leading data source for the holiday. However, the title for most accurate weather predicting groundhog goes to Staten Island Chuck, who lives in the Staten Island Zoo in New York City and clocks in at an 85% accuracy rate, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Contributing: Julia Gomez and Melina Kahn, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Punxsutawney Phil 'throws' first pitch at Pittsburgh Pirates game