PITTSBURGH • Those pesky details, the familiar flaws, and all those haphazard moments that the Cardinals could dismiss as spring training nitpicks aren’t so easily excused now that they’ve come north.
What happened in Florida didn’t stay in Florida.
The Cardinals’ false start to the 2016 season continued Wednesday night with a 5-1 dismantling by the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The Pirates completed an opening-series sweep of the Cardinals, and while the Cardinals had their chances in the first two games of the visit, the third wasn’t ever theirs for the taking. At one point the Cardinals had more errors (three) than hits (two), and the wheezing Cardinals offense failed to get a runner into scoring position until the eighth inning.