PITTSBURGH (AP) — Shelby Miller still hasn’t discovered a way to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. And while the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander will certainly get plenty of shots over the next few years, he appears no closer to figuring it out now than he was a season ago after the Pirates jumped on him late in a 12-2 loss on Friday night.
The 23-year-old Miller tied a career high by allowing five earned runs in 5 1-3 innings while falling to 0-5 with a 5.92 ERA against the Pirates. He is 16-5 with a 2.34 ERA in his 33 other major league appearances.
Pedro Alvarez homered twice and scored three runs as Pittsburgh cruised in the first meeting between the two clubs since the Cardinals won Game 5 of the NL division series last October on their way to winning the National League pennant.
The start of the game was delayed 1:05 by rain, the third straight time a Cardinals’ game was delayed by weather. The series continues today (Saturday). RHP Joe Kelly will make his season debut for the Cardinals against Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano (0-0, 0.00).