Based on his first two starts in a Reds uniform -- each lasting 1 2/3 innings -- Wade Miley had a low bar to clear on Saturday vs. the Cardinals. And although Miley was on the losing side of the ledger in a 3-0 Cincinnati defeat at Busch Stadium, the veteran left-hander cleared his previous efforts by a wide margin.

Over five innings and 95 pitches, Miley gave up three earned runs on seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts. But save for Harrison Bader’s homer to lead off the fifth, he was not knocked around by the Cardinals' lineup.

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“Big night for Wade. Right from the beginning, he had a great tempo, working fast, throwing strikes. Looked like he had all his pitches working,” Reds manager David Bell said.

Meanwhile, the Reds' lineup did little to support the effort of Miley or long man Tejay Antone (2 1/3 hitless innings of relief). A night after notching a season-low two hits that included Matt Davidson’s game-winning grand slam, Cincinnati's offense produced only four hits, with no runners reaching third base. Kyle Farmer, the No. 9 hitter, notched three of those hits -- all singles.

With one out in the bottom of the third, Bader lifted a popup to shallow right field. First baseman Joey Votto ran back for the ball as right fielder Nick Castellanos charged in, but the ball landed between them and Bader slid into second base with a hustle double. Next, Kolten Wong lifted a ball to left field that blooped in front of Jesse Winker. Winker threw to the plate when Bader had no chance to score, which enabled Wong to take second base.

According to Statcast, the average exit velocity of those two hits was 69.5 mph. The inning’s third consecutive hit -- Tommy Edman’s 92.7 mph single to left field -- scored both Bader and Wong for a 2-0 St. Louis lead. Following a walk, Miley got out of the inning by getting Tyler O'Neill to ground into a double play.

“My style of pitching, the way I pitch, sometimes I create some soft contact and those things happen,” Miley said. “I feel like I managed it OK and was able to get out of it without too much crazy damage. At the end of the day, big step forward. Just wish we could’ve won the ballgame, but that’s baseball.”

The hardest-hit ball that Miley allowed for a hit came at the start of the fifth. Bader lifted a homer to right-center field for a 3-0 lead.

Cardinals starter Kwang Hyun Kim cruised for six innings, allowing three hits with no walks and three strikeouts. But in a sign that is equal parts encouraging and frustrating for the Reds, 14 of the 18 times they made contact the exit velocity was at least 89 mph.

“When you're not scoring runs, you want to mix it up to give a different look, maybe even do something just out of the ordinary,” Bell said. “We didn't get any sort of opportunity to do anything like that.”

Miley joined the Reds as a free agent this past offseason, signing a two-year, $15 million deal, and was expected to be added gravy to an already strong rotation with Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani. Miley was roughed up during his July 27 season debut vs. the Cubs (six runs allowed), then missed two weeks with a left groin injury.

On Saturday, Miley appeared to have command of his cutter, his favorite pitch, in the early going.

“I got a little tired after the third and the cutter started, like, getting depthy and they sort of laid off a few cutters that I was getting some chases or some swings with early on,” Miley said. “Some early contact, but a lot of confidence. I moved to the curveball, and it felt really good. So, moving forward, that’s something I haven’t been able to do in the past -- switch straight to a curveball and try to pitch off of that.”

Bell put Miley on a pitch limit for his Aug. 12 return vs. the Royals, but he labored, throwing 44 pitches to get five outs. This time, the limitations were removed.

With 77 pitches through four innings, Miley gave up a pair of two-out walks in the fifth after Bader’s homer. Bell visited the mound, but he let Miley try to finish the inning. Miley then got a groundout from Matt Carpenter to prevent further damage.

“We're at that point where we took some steps with Wade and, assuming he was back and found his rhythm, found this tempo and was pitching well, we were going to let him go,” Bell said. “He was pretty fatigued there at the end, which is great. It's perfect. It's a great sign of making it to that point in the game with that many pitches and have enough in the tank to get that last hitter. He wanted that opportunity. He got it, and got it done.”