Central STL News

Andre Pallante, starting for the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night in Miami, faced challenges from the outset and was unable to find his rhythm throughout the game. After hitting Marlins catcher Agustín Ramírez with a pitch in the first inning, Pallante dealt with runners reaching base in every frame he pitched.

Despite escaping some early trouble, including bases-loaded situations in both the second and fourth innings, Pallante allowed five earned runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked three as the Cardinals fell 6-2 to the Marlins at loanDepot park.

“I feel like the results are at their floor right now,” said Pallante, who has a 7.22 ERA since the All-Star break. “And I feel like I still see glimpses of the potential success I have -- my highs. I’m really just trying to be more consistent.”

The loss prevented St. Louis (63-65) from sweeping a three-game series for the first time since late June.

Pallante’s outing ended when Maximo Acosta hit his first Major League Baseball home run off a 94.5 mph fastball, driving it 418 feet to center field in Acosta’s third MLB game.

Reflecting on his performance, Pallante noted: “I felt like I did a pretty good job getting my slider away, but they were able to put some good swings on the ball and some ground balls got through. I felt like I did a better job against the lefties. I’ve been trying to get my fastball in a better location to them. I felt like I did that. And I threw my curveball more. That’s something I’m trying to do and be more competitive with. I wish I could have landed a couple of those behind-the-count ones.”

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol acknowledged Pallante’s effort but highlighted areas for improvement: “The ball was coming out of the hand well, but how he handled some of the other aspects of the game kind of led to some frustration, when you look at the running game and the stolen bases, the walks, some of them being non-competitive," Marmol said on Pallante. "He battled through it at the end of the day. But we just need to continue to get better.”

In addition to yielding two runs on Heriberto Hernández’s single in the third inning after a double steal by Marsee and Ramírez—whom Pallante hit twice—he managed crucial outs when necessary but struggled with control issues throughout.

“That’s the stuff you give away,” Pallante said about walks and hit batters leading up to scoring opportunities for Miami. “What adds to that are the mistakes -- the walks, the hit by pitches. That’s where they really start to compound.”

Marmol saw positives in how Pallante responded under pressure: “He can definitely learn from that,” Marmol said of Pallante's fourth inning escape with two strikeouts and an inning-ending groundout after loading bases again with no outs.“... But at the end of the day, we have to clean up the running game stuff and some of the non-competitive walks.”

Offensively, St. Louis was quiet early against Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara until Lars Nootbaar drove home Yohel Pozo with a ground-rule double in fifth inning play; Willson Contreras later homered off Alcantara for his 17th long ball this season—a shot traveling 414 feet into left-center field.

Contreras has posted strong numbers at loanDepot park over his career—hitting .346/.441/.628 with an OPS of 1.069 across 93 plate appearances there.

“I liked our at-bats. I thought we hit him pretty hard,” Marmol said regarding Alcantara's seven-inning performance limiting St.Louis hitters.“We didn’t have a whole lot to show for some of [the at-bats Wednesday], but I liked our approach against him.It’s a tough arm.I know he’s not having year he would like,but it’s still tough arm.”

As for what comes next,Pallante remains focused:“I’m taking every start as clean slate,”he said.“Just trying be best version myself every time take ball.”