ST. LOUIS — On the day Oliver Marmol anointed Andre Pallante as one of his rotation pitchers — for now, anyway — the right-handed Cardinals rookie confirmed his manager’s faith.
After surviving a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, which had been exacerbated by back-to-back walks, the 23-year-old Californian didn’t walk a man over the next 4 1/3 innings Friday night at Busch Stadium. Or give up a run either.
Mixing a mid-to-high 90s fastball with a slow curve, slider and change-up, Pallante, making his first start at home, held the Reds to four singles over 5 1/3 innings. The Cardinals didn’t exactly belabor Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo either but the Reds committed two errors in the first inning that gave the Cardinals two runs.
But with the back end of the Cardinals’ bullpen in tact for the first time in six days, that was enough for a 2-0 victory before a sell-out house of 45,009, as the Cardinals snapped a losing streak at three games.
Genesis Cabrera, Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley pitched hitless ball over the final 3 2/3 innings, with Helsley notching his fourth save as the Cardinals took over first place by half a game over the skidding Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central Division.
The last pitch was a 100-mph fastball for a strikeout by Helsley.
Pallante (2-0), who walked four in four innings in his first start last weekend in Chicago, issued back-to-back passes to Joey Votto and Kyle Farmer to load the bases with two outs in the first. But Pallante, after a visit from pitching coach Mike Maddux, retired Matt Reynolds on a liner to right fielder Dylan Carlson.
The Reds then had a defensive meltdown in their half of the first inning.
Luis Castillo, who owned the Cardinals earlier in his career, set down the first two hitters before league-leading hitter Paul Goldschmidt walked, extending his on-base streak to 46 consecutive games.
Nolan Arenado, whose jersey night it was, blooped a single to right, sending Goldschmidt to third. Right fielder Aristides Aquino decided to throw behind Arenado, who had turned the bag but Aquino also threw behind first baseman Votto and Goldschmidt scored on the error, with Arenado taking second. Earlier, in the at-bat, Votto had failed to snatch Arenado’s foul fly near the Cardinals’ dugout.
Tyler O’Neill then hit a bouncer behind third where Brandon Drury made the reception but bounced his throw past Votto, scoring Arenado from second.
Pallante, picking up his command of the strike zone, pitched around a single in the second and two more hits in the third. The right-hander quelled that latter threat by inducing Farmer to ground into a double play started by shortstop Tommy Edman.
Second baseman Brandon Donovan pivoted and then threw off-line to first but a stretching, sprawling Goldschmidt held the bag long enough for the out. In the fourth, Pallante had his first 1-2-3 inning as center fielder Harrison Bader made a leaping grab of Alejo Lopez’s liner that almost zipped over his head. Pallante was flawless again in the fifth.
Pallante wrapped up a tidy, 78-pitch effort by retiring former Cardinal Tommy Pham on a groundout to open the Reds’ sixth before Marmol turned to left-hander Cabrera to face Votto, who was two for 10 against Cabrera.
Cabrera, pitching for the first time since he went four innings last Sunday in Chicago, got Votto on a grounder to Goldschmidt and Farmer on a fly to center.
The seventh brought more of the same as Cabrera set down all three hitters he faced. At that point, the Reds hadn’t had a base runner since the third inning.
Edman stole his league-leading 15th base with one out in the Cardinals’ seventh after he had drawn a walk from Jeff Hoffman. But Gorman lined to Aquino, who made a sliding catch, and Goldschmidt grounded out.
Gallegos made it exciting in the eighth, walking three Reds hitters although the Cardinals objected that two of four balls thrown to Votto actually were strikes. Then came another well-timed visit by Maddux. Shortly after the pitching coach had departed, the inning was over on a popup by Farmer.
