If Monday night marked Andre Pallante鈥檚 last appearance in the Cardinals鈥 starting rotation this season, he probably deserved a better outcome than the one he got.
Pallante, a right-hander, took the loss on a night when he gave up just three runs. While he wasn鈥檛 dominant, he also wasn鈥檛 cannon fodder. All seven hits he allowed were singles聽鈥 three that didn鈥檛 leave the infield聽鈥 and he wriggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation having allowed two runs instead of letting the game get out of reach.
Pallante scratched his way through five innings despite a meandering curveball and a sinker that veered wildly off course at times. Of course, Pallante's outing got lost once the Texas Rangers scored three runs in the seventh inning with the help of two fielding errors and a two-run home run.
The four-run advantage proved too much for the Cardinals to overcome in the final third of the game. The Cardinals fell 6-3 in the first game of their three-game set with the Rangers in front of an announced crowd of 34,281 at Busch Stadium.
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The loss marked the fourth in the past five games for the Cardinals (54-52), and it put them in a tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates (54-52) for second place in the NL Central Division. Both teams sit seven games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (61-45).
鈥淚f you put yourself in Pallante鈥檚 shoes today, it鈥檚 really hard to do anything different,鈥 Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淗e pitched his game. Throughout the course of that game, I think 8 out of 18 or 19 groundballs ended up hits聽鈥斅爓hich is hard to do and hard to repeat.
"As far as pitching his game, he did what he normally does. He attacked with that fastball.鈥
Pallante, who began this season in the bullpen for the Cardinals, entered this season having not made a start in the major leagues since July 2022. Early struggles this season led the Cardinals to send him back to the minors.
While with Triple-A Memphis, he stretched out as a starting pitcher and continued to refine his pitch arsenal to address his lack of consistent effectiveness against right-handed hitters.
During that time, it also became clear that the Cardinals starting pitching depth remained precarious at-best. Left-hander Steven Matz went down with a back injury at the beginning of May. He鈥檚 set to begin a rehab assignment on Thursday. The Cardinals shut down Matz's previous rehab assignment, in June, after three appearances due to lingering soreness.
Zack Thompson should have been the next in line, but he experienced inconsistencies and a drop in velocity. He went back to the minors in late April, and he has remained there. Matthew Liberatore, while capable of flashing intriguing performances in a starting role, has seemed better-suited for a relief role since the start of the season.
The club鈥檚 pitching prospects at the highest level of the minor leagues were deemed by the organization as not yet ready for major-league starting roles.
Pallante (4-5) returned from the minors and stepped into the starting rotation on May 29. Through his first several outings, Marmol remained hesitant to name Pallante the fifth starter. Pallante鈥檚 standing on the roster seemed almost perpetually temporary.
In 10 starts this season, Pallante has gone 4-4 with a 3.61 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, a .245 opponent鈥檚 batting average with 43 strikeouts and 18 walks in 52 1/3 innings.
In his previous four starts leading into Monday, Pallante held opponents to a .193 batting average and posted an ERA of 2.19. He鈥檇 gone at least six innings in each of his last three starts prior to his matchup with the Rangers.
鈥淧robably the most growth I鈥檝e seen in a player this year, if we鈥檙e talking about mentality,鈥 Marmol said. 鈥淗ow he uses his stuff is who he is. But when it comes to how he鈥檚 taking the mound聽鈥 his overall mound presence, his determination, his focus, his preparation, you can go down the list聽鈥 he has grown a ton.
"He鈥檚 pitching with a lot of confidence. There鈥檚 times when you鈥檙e in the big leagues and you question whether you鈥檙e a big leaguer or not. Then you kind of go over that threshold where you know you鈥檙e a big leaguer. I feel like he鈥檚 there where he knows he belongs here.鈥
Now, Pallante鈥檚 place in the rotation has become a question mark again. The Cardinals acquired starting pitcher Erick Fedde from the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade on Monday. Fedde, who has gone 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA this season, will join the club鈥檚 rotation later this week in Chicago for the series against the Chicago Cubs.
鈥淲e all hear it, it鈥檚 not like it鈥檚 a secret, but that鈥檚 part of what I鈥檓 working on聽鈥 staying focused on (going) pitch by pitch,鈥 Pallante said of handling the buzz and speculation surrounding the trade deadline. 鈥淎ll I can control is the pitches I execute. I鈥檓 just trying to stay focused on that.鈥
Neither Marmol nor president of baseball operations John Mozeliak declared a plan going forward for the starting rotation, although Mozeliak acknowledged Pallante appeared a likely choice to move to the bullpen.
Mozeliak seemed to leave open the possibility that the addition of another starter might provide an opportunity to give rest to the rotation. It wasn鈥檛 clear if he may have been alluding to a six-man rotation or possibly being able to rest one of the club鈥檚 veteran starters.
鈥淥bviously, our rotation has been very successful this year,鈥 Mozeliak said. 鈥淏ut as you enter August, people get tired. Being able to have a fresh arm and someone that we can go to that was having the success Erick was having was something we desired.鈥
Pallante didn鈥檛 give any indication that he鈥檇 been informed what role he鈥檇 fill going forward.
鈥淲e just have to see what they鈥檙e going to do,鈥 Pallante said. 鈥淚 make pitches. That鈥檚 what I do. Wherever that is, whatever role that is, I鈥檓 going to do it to the best of my ability.鈥
Monday, Pallante retired the first five batters he faced against the Rangers, including three strikeouts. He even recorded a strikeout against Marcus Semien, despite throwing two pitches that hit backstop in the air during that at-bat.
The Rangers scored first with a two-out RBI single by Corey Seager in the third inning. That came after Josh Smith reached on a soft grounder between home plate and first base that went for an infield single. Smith then advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really have my curveball working today,鈥 Pallante said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 very good. I only executed one. That was the one that guy got a single back up the middle on. 鈥
鈥淚 felt like my two-seam in the first inning I was throwing it up at the backstop. Those were the two fastballs that went way up there. It was just slipping out of my hand, a hot day like this. I鈥檓 not a guy that uses rosin. I never really have.鈥
The Cardinals handed Pallante a one-run edge in the bottom of the third thanks to veteran slugger Matt Carpenter鈥檚 two-run home run off Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi (8-4).
In the fourth inning, Pallante allowed a leadoff single to Wyatt Langford, then got former Cardinals Adolis Garcia to fly out for the first out of the inning.
However, the Rangers swatted three consecutive hits. The third hit, a bases-loaded RBI single by Jonah Heim, tied the score. Then Leody Taveras鈥 grounder to first base drove in the go-ahead run and accounted for the second out. Pallante got another grounder to end the inning and strand two men on base in the frame.
Pallante allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks in five innings. He also struck out five. He stranded six men on base.
Cardinals rookie reliever Chris Roycroft allowed three runs (two earned) in the seventh inning. The Cardinals commited a pair of fielding errors, one by left fielder Alec Burleson and one by third baseman Nolan Arenado. Then Roycroft gave up a two-run home run to Nathaniel Lowe.
The Cardinals cut into the four-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh when Michael Siani hit a one-out bases-loaded RBI single to right field. However, Masyn Winn lined into an inning-ending double play, and the Cardinals didn鈥檛 put a man on base in the final two innings.