Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Jason Bay reacts after striking out against Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen in the ninth inning to end the game at PNC Park yesterday. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Pirates Notebook: Castillo would welcome starting duty ... anywhere Cardinals have big hole to ftill Fans find cold comfort in Pirates' opening loss Slideshow: Opening Day 2007 Pirates Q&A with Dejan Kovacevic Ron Cook: Pujols has a way of spoiling day for Pirates Today Opponent: St. Louis Cardinals (3-4) Time: 7:05 p.m. Site: PNC Park. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7). Starters: LHP Tom Gorzelanny (1-0, 3.60) vs. LHP Randy Keisler (0-0, 1.80 with Class AAA Memphis). Key matchup: Zambelli vs. the weather. Temperatures could drop to 25 degrees for the first fireworks night. Of note: Among current Pirates, only Jason Bay (39) has more home runs at PNC Park than Albert Pujols (19).

All that hype about the bolstered lineup.

All that hope for something, anything more than another losing record.

All those huddled masses crammed into PNC Park despite near-freezing temperatures.

And all the home team could deliver for its home opener, the day that marks the beginning and end of baseball season for so many in Pittsburgh, was a same-old-Pirates dud in the form of a 3-0 blanking by St. Louis yesterday afternoon.

They mustered three hits off Braden Looper and the Cardinals' bullpen, never set foot on third base and barely drew a peep from the capacity crowd of 38,429.

"It's a little frustrating because you want to make it exciting for the fans," third baseman Jose Bautista said. "But tomorrow's another day."

"We definitely didn't have our bats," shortstop Jack Wilson said. "We might have been pressing a little because we wanted to show people how good a team we have. That could have been a factor. Whatever it was, it's just unfortunate it turned out the way it did because we should have had this one."

The Pirates lost their third consecutive home opener and were shut out in one for the first time since April 8, 1991, a 7-0 loss to the Montreal Expos.

But, as Wilson said, they could have had this one, perhaps decisively.

Looper was praised in each clubhouse after limiting the Pirates to two hits over seven innings, and that was not without merit: He set aside his usual heat in the 37-degree cold and worked both sides of the plate with offspeed stuff, notably a cutter that looked "exactly like his slider," according to Wilson. That guile brought 11 groundball outs and four broken bats.

"I felt like I made pitches in key situations," Looper said.

But it also was the case that Looper was making his second major-league start after 573 career relief appearances. And that he hit a batter and walked as many as he struck out -- three each -- while throwing only 57 of his 94 pitches for strikes.

He hardly was commanding.

"He was just missing barrels," left fielder Jason Bay said.

"We were chasing out of the zone at times," center fielder Chris Duffy said.

"We had only a few really good swings at him," manager Jim Tracy said. "You need to have more than three hits, and we didn't get them."

This despite Tracy fielding for the first time the starting eight he has envisioned since the Adam LaRoche trade in January. It was the lineup, Tracy yesterday acknowledged, that "makes sense" to use as his foundation.

What made the day doubly exasperating for the Pirates was that another fine start by Ian Snell -- one run over seven innings -- was "wasted," to use Bay's term.

Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette Ryan Kozlowski, 11, of Cranberry waits next to the Roberto Clemente statue for the start of the home opener. Click photo for larger image.

Snell used an approach similar to Looper's in that he leaned heavily on pitches other than his heat. And, in yet another sign of his maturity, he did so with precision and rhythm.

As Snell put it, "I had to use my brain a little more."

"Ian gave us a chance to win," Tracy said. "And you look at the one run they got off him, that came from a hitter who's had a lot of success not only against Ian but also a lot of other guys."

That would be Albert Pujols, owner of four home runs in six at-bats against Snell coming in. He ripped a single in the first inning, then opened the fourth with a rainbow double down the left-field line. Scott Rolen followed the latter with a single that gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals added two in the eighth off the bullpen.

John Wasdin gave up David Eckstein's leadoff single and, one out later, Pujols was intentionally walked. With Jim Edmonds due up, Tracy summoned Damaso Marte for a lefty-on-lefty matchup. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa countered with right-handed Preston Wilson.

Advantage: La Russa.

		Listen In Postgame commentary from the Pirates after yesterday's 3-0 loss to St. Louis in the 2007 season home opener: Jason Bay Not many chances A wasted start Cold bats, cold weather Ian Snell "Our guys played good ..." He's a "smarter" pitcher this season Does the cold change his routine? Jim Tracy "This is the first of 81 home games ..." Snell's solid start Braden Looper's stuff Cold weather favors pitching Adam LaRoche's slow start

Wilson tomahawked a Marte fastball with such force that it caromed off the center-field fence and back toward the infield past Duffy, who had to reverse course. The double scored two runs and put the Cardinals ahead, 3-0.

"Up and over the plate," Tracy said, with some disdain, of Marte's fastball.

Not that the insurance mattered. Ryan Franklin and Jason Isringhausen kept the Pirates quiet in the eighth and ninth innings, by which point thousands of fans already were streaming across the Clemente Bridge toward Downtown.

The lack of offense was not isolated, despite the uplifting 4-2 road trip that preceded this game: The Pirates are batting .232 and have averaged 3.43 runs per game, fifth fewest in the National League.

And the primary culprits, beyond a doubt, are LaRoche and Ronny Paulino.

LaRoche, making a PNC Park debut that at one time had been eagerly anticipated, went 0 for 3 with a walk to drop his average to .111. He has three hits and an eye-popping 13 strikeouts.

One possible bright sign: He nailed two balls on the button yesterday.

"I feel good one at-bat and, then, I feel like I'm taking three steps back," LaRoche said. "And I just cannot put my finger on it. There are times when I'm coming to the plate, and I feel like I've never played baseball before."

He shook his head.

"It's frustrating. I can tell myself it's only a week, but ... it's the beginning of the season. That makes it feel like it's been going on for a month."

Paulino, a .310 hitter as a rookie and the star of spring training, is at .154 after his 0-for-3 day.

His response?

Minutes after the game, still in full uniform, he grabbed his bat and headed for the indoor cages.

Third baseman Jose Bautista puts the tag on the Cardinals' Jim Edmonds in the fifth inning yesterday at PNC Park. The Pirates lost, 3-0. Peter DiIana, Post-Gazette