As disheartening as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ home-opening loss was, it is worth remembering it was only their third game of the season.

So it might be just premature to suggest, based on their 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 11 innings Monday at PNC Park, the Pirates are exactly what they were expected to be this season.

The starting pitching and back end of the bullpen were supposed to be their strengths, the infield defense and power production their weakness. Where the starting pitching has been strong, the bullpen has blown up twice. Where the Pirates are scoring runs, their defense is shaky.

But the Pirates twice blew leads, including a four-run lead in the seventh inning, and lost to a team that finished ahead of them in the NL Central last season and should contend for the division title.

“That’s a tough game to lose, especially to an in-division team,” Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon said. “We’ll iron out what we need to, and we’ll be all right. But if we get good starting pitching, we’re going to find ourselves in games. We just need to finish them and close them out.”

Five first impressions from the home opener:

1. Don’t blame Archer: It is silly to suggest that Chris Archer was at the root of the loss because he couldn’t go deeper into the game.

Archer threw five scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits, three walks and hit a batter. He threw 99 pitches (60 for strikes), so his inefficiency was a concern.

But Trevor Williams threw 80 pitches Sunday, didn’t allow a run and lasted only six innings. Given Pirates starters were stretched out for six innings or 100 pitches, whichever comes first, it is likely Archer would have thrown only one more inning.

“I’m sure Arch would have liked to go deeper into the game,” Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove said, “but five scoreless is five scoreless against a really good offensive team.”

Perhaps the Cardinals would have adjusted to Archer the third time around the order, though nothing about him striking out Matt Carpenter and Paul Goldschmidt suggested they did.

Kyle Crick struck out Paul DeJong and Marcell Ozuna and forced Yadier Molina to fly out in the sixth, so it didn’t matter.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to good clubs,” Archer said. “I definitely could have been more efficient, but it’s a good club. I tried to put my team in a position to win, and I felt like I did that.

“I felt like we should have won that game, but that’s baseball.”

2. Blowing leads: If there is a pitching concern, it’s that Richard Rodriguez has allowed home runs in the seventh inning of his first two appearances this season.

Rodriguez was so impressive last season (1.07 WHIP and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings). But hitters are teeing off on him this season.

“The bullpen, we were one of the best last year,” Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli said. “This is just starting.”

But it’s not off to a good start. Where Rodriguez inherited a tough situation on Opening Day, with runners on second and third before giving up a three-run homer to Cincinnati Reds pinch hitter Derek Dietrich, he had a clean slate against the Cardinals.

Rodriguez hit Dexter Fowler with a pitch, surrendered a homer to Kolten Wong on an 0-2 pitch and gave up a single to Harrison Bader, who later scored to cut it to 4-3.

In the eighth, Nick Burdi gave up a single to Yairo Munoz and struck out Wong and Bader, but a wild pitch allowed Munoz to advance to second and score the tying run on Tyler O’Neill’s double.

That’s where the bullpen blew it. But the defense didn’t help.

3. Defensive lapses: Pitching wasn’t the Pirates’ only problem.

Instead of getting a potential double play, Colin Moran booted a ball at third base in the seventh.

That led to a standoff, as the Cardinals stopped swinging and drew walks. Francisco Liriano walked Carpenter to load the bases, and Keone Kela walked Goldschmidt to score Bader.

Moran made up for his error with a homer in the eighth for a 5-4 lead, but the Pirates failed to protect it.

They had another costly error in the ninth, when shortstop Erik Gonzalez mishandled a Goldschmidt grounder. Gonzalez also blew a potential double play with a wide throw to second, forcing the runner out but allowing DeJong to reach on a fielder’s choice. After taking second on a wild pitch, DeJong scored the tying run on a double by Jose Martinez.

To his credit, Gonzalez took it to heart.

“This team brought me here because of my defense, and it’s something I take pride in,” Gonzalez said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez. “When I (make) an error, that’s something that really actually bothers me.”

The Pirates traded for Gonzalez because of his glove, and he has shown good range and a flair for the spectacular. But he needs to make the routine plays.

4. Who’s on first?: Moran has shown the ability to play first base, which makes him more valuable, especially given he lost the starting job at third to Jung Ho Kang.

Anyone suggesting Moran should start at first over Josh Bell should think again — even though their numbers were comparable last season, when Bell slashed .261/.357/.411 with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs to Moran’s .277/.340/.407 with 11 homers and 58 RBIs.

Bell showed serious power potential as a rookie, hitting 26 home runs with 90 RBIs. The Pirates have to hope he can recapture that stroke after his struggles last season.

But Bell’s fielding has to be a concern in an infield with first-year full-time starters at second in Adam Frazier and shortstop in Gonzalez and a two-year layoff for Kang at third. Moran could be a potential late-inning replacement.

5. Packing PNC Park: Sitting in the shadows along the third-base line on a 37-degree day wasn’t very inviting, so PNC Park looked half empty for the home opener.

But the announced attendance was 37,336, an improvement of 7,150 from a year ago. Then again, the 30,186 for the first game at PNC Park in 2018 was the smallest at a home opener since 1982.

Archer was fired up to pitch in the home opener, and said Kela also fed off the energy of the home crowd.

“It was amazing,” Archer said. “I feed off the fans. I love when they’re here. … I’m looking forward to more of that this year.

“It stinks that we lost the game, but 37,000 fans … I hope they see what they can do to lift us and I hope they’re back more this year.”

It’s worth remembering the Pirates still have 80 home games to go.

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