Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante allowed four runs in a span of nine batters faced between the fifth and sixth innings, and afterward he honed in on one pitch he wished he could have back.
That pitch served as the first domino in a chain reaction that spoiled a solid start and squandered an early lead.
Pallante hadn’t allowed a run through the first four innings, and his club had hit a pair of home runs that gave him a three-run advantage by the end of the third inning. However, the Kansas City Royals scored three runs in the fifth inning and took the lead against Pallante in the sixth inning on the way to handing the Cardinals a 6-4 loss in the first game of a split doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
Hunter Renfroe’s leadoff double in the fifth inning started a string of three consecutive hits, including an infield single by Freddy Fermin and an RBI double by left-handed hitting slugger MJ Melendez that gave the Royals their first run of the game.
“I just left some pitches over the heart of the plate,” Pallante said. “The big one that hurt was the one to Melendez. I think that’s my strength, that at-bat right there is my strength. Letting that at-bat get away from me with a poorly executed fastball over the plate, that one was definitely the biggest mistake of the day.”
Entering the day, Pallante had held left-handed batters to a .202/.268/.247 slash line this season compared to .337/.427/.506 for right-handed hitters. For his career in the majors, Pallante has held left-handed hitters to a .232/.286/.339 slash line.
However, Pallante’s 0-1 fastball to Melendez was center cut, and Melendez turned it around with an exit velocity of 109.3 mph to right-center field.
Then with Melendez and Fermin on second and third, Garrett Hampson lined a two-run double to center field and tied the score 3-3 with one out. Pallante struck out Maikel Garcia and Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to end the inning and strand the go-ahead run on third base in the fifth.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol stayed with Pallante with the score tied going into the sixth inning.
“That’s his last start before the break, so you can take him a little further,” Marmol said of Pallante. “And with the doubleheader, keeping as many arms in that pen available for that second game was important.”
With one out in the sixth inning, Pallante gave up a 424-foot solo home run to Royals All-Star catcher and captain Salvador Perez on a 2-1 fastball on the outer half of the plate. The pitch was clocked at 96.8 mph.
“It probably clipped the bottom of the zone, but it was about thigh high away, and that’s a pitch that he’s been hitting really well,” Pallante said. “So you’re going to get got sometimes.”
Marmol had been aggressive taking Pallante out of games earlier this season when matchups with dangerous right-handed hitters loomed. Marmol pulled Pallante after fewer than four innings in June starts against the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs.
Pallante had shown signs of growth with deeper outings against the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates of late. He went seven innings and allowed just one run in his previous start on the road against the Pirates.
“You can be a little bit more aggressive if you know you have a day off and no game tonight,” Marmol said. “Then you can match up earlier. But he has done enough and he looked good enough to allow him to keep going. So I could go either way on that one.”
Pallante went 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out five.
Cardinals near decision time with Herrera
Catcher Ivan Herrera, who began this season as the primary backup for starter Willson Contreras, is eligible to return from the injured list. He’d missed 18 games (not including Wednesday’s doubleheader) after he experienced lower back tightness.
Herrera, the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year last season, began a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis on July 4.
Through Tuesday night, he’d played in four games during his assignment. Herrera caught the entire game Tuesday, and he went 1 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored.
Once the Cardinals’ medical and training staff has been satisfied that Herrera is physically ready to return, then the Cardinals must decide whether they can carry a third catcher on their major-league roster alongside Pedro Pages and Contreras.
The Cardinals could also decide to option either Herrera or Pages to Triple-A.
While Herrera began the season as the clear No. 2 catcher, Pages has proven a capable backup option behind Contreras. Pages has also performed better in terms of catcher framing runs than either Herrera or Contreras so far this season. Pages has thrown out a team-best 26% of attempted base stealers, and he has rated above Herrera in pop time to second base as well as the defensive metric caught stealing above average.
Another doubleheader on the horizon
Prior to the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Marmol laid out the pitching plans heading into the All-Star break.
Following starts by Pallante and rookie right-hander Gordon Graceffo in Wednesday’s doubleheader, the Cardinals plan to start Sonny Gray on Friday against the Cubs followed by Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson in Saturday’s doubleheader and Miles Mikolas in Sunday’s series finale against the Cubs in the last game before the break.
Saturday’s doubleheader is a result of a rained-out game between the Cardinals and Cubs at Busch Stadium on May 24.
Edman continues rehab
Infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman began his minor-league rehab assignment with Double-A Springfield on Tuesday night with a 1-for-3 performance at the plate as the designated hitter.
Edman, who has had a prolonged recovery from offseason wrist surgery, drove in a run and scored a run in his first game of the season at any level.
He was slated to continue his assignment Wednesday night with Springfield.