Desert Storm Finale: Cardinals, Diamondbacks Settle Series Sunday

The Cardinal Chronicle
Desert Storm Finale: Cardinals, Diamondbacks Settle Series Sunday
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The first two games settled nothing.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks will return to Chase Field on Sunday afternoon with the series tied at one game apiece and the winner leaving Phoenix with an important series victory to open the second half.

St. Louis took Friday night’s opener, 5-4, before Arizona answered with a 5-3 victory Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals enter the finale at 51-46, while the Diamondbacks are 50-48 and remain only 1½ games behind St. Louis in the crowded National League postseason race.

This is not a must-win game in the traditional sense. There are still more than two months left on the schedule.

It is, however, the kind of game that can matter when teams begin sorting through tiebreakers and missed opportunities in September.

The Cardinals have an opportunity to win a road series against one of the teams directly behind them in the standings. Arizona has an opportunity to pull within a half-game of St. Louis.

That is plenty of importance for a Sunday afternoon in July.

Game Information

St. Louis Cardinals at Arizona Diamondbacks

Sunday, July 19, 2026
First pitch: 3:10 p.m. CT
Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona

Television: Cardinals.TV and DBACKS.TV
Radio: KMOX 1120 AM and 104.1 FM
Streaming: MLB.TV for eligible out-of-market viewers

The Pitching Matchup

Cardinals: RHP Andre Pallante
10-6, 3.96 ERA, 72 strikeouts

Diamondbacks: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
8-3, 2.29 ERA, 79 strikeouts

Sunday presents the Cardinals with their most difficult starting-pitching matchup of the weekend.

Eduardo Rodriguez has been Arizona’s most dependable starter, carrying an 8-3 record and a 2.29 ERA through 19 starts. The veteran left-hander has averaged six innings per start while posting a 1.17 WHIP.

Rodriguez is not an overpowering strikeout pitcher, averaging 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings, but that is part of what makes him effective. He changes speeds, moves the ball around the strike zone and rarely gives hitters the same look twice.

He is comfortable allowing hitters to put the ball in play because he generally avoids the damaging mistake.

The Cardinals will counter with Andre Pallante, who has become one of the rotation’s most dependable competitors.

Pallante enters Sunday at 10-6 with a 3.96 ERA through 18 starts. He has averaged approximately 5⅔ innings per outing with a 1.26 WHIP and 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Cardinals know what Pallante brings.

He will attack the strike zone, work quickly and try to keep the baseball on the ground. His success will depend less on strikeouts than weak contact, double-play opportunities and the defense behind him.

That formula can work against Arizona, but only if Pallante avoids walks and keeps the top of the Diamondbacks’ order from creating traffic.

What Happened Friday

The Cardinals opened the second half with a 5-4 victory that required nearly every bit of their margin for error.

Michael McGreevy gave St. Louis 6⅓ strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk. J.J. Wetherholt homered, Masyn Winn drove in three runs and Iván Herrera delivered the game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.

St. Louis appeared to be in control after taking a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but Corbin Carroll tied the game with a two-run home run.

Rather than allowing the game to get away, the Cardinals answered immediately.

José Fermín reached base in the ninth and eventually scored when Herrera lifted a bases-loaded sacrifice fly, giving St. Louis a lead it would not surrender.

It was not always clean, but it was the kind of road victory good teams find a way to finish.

What Happened Saturday

Arizona responded Saturday by jumping on Dustin May and building a 5-0 lead.

May allowed five runs over five innings, walking four and throwing a wild pitch. The game turned quickly in the third inning when the Diamondbacks scored three times in a span of six pitches.

May failed to cover home plate after a wild pitch allowed Ketel Marte to score, then surrendered a single and a walk before former Cardinal Nolan Arenado drove in two runs with a double.

The Cardinals did not score until the sixth inning, when Jordan Walker delivered an RBI single and extended his on-base streak to 20 games. St. Louis added another run in the inning, but its comeback stalled with the potential tying run still several batters away.

Jimmy Crooks provided one final push with a 443-foot solo home run over the pool in right-center field in the ninth inning, forcing Arizona to use closer Paul Sewald in a game the Diamondbacks once led by five.

The effort was encouraging.

The five-run hole was not.

Jordan Walker Continues to Set the Pace

Walker remains the hitter at the center of everything the Cardinals want to accomplish offensively.

He enters Sunday batting .293 with a .354 on-base percentage, a .526 slugging percentage, 22 home runs and 75 RBIs. His RBI single Saturday extended his on-base streak to 20 games.

Arizona knows Walker is the hitter it cannot allow to beat them.

That puts added responsibility on J.J. Wetherholt, Iván Herrera and Alec Burleson to reach base ahead of him and on the hitters behind him to prevent the Diamondbacks from pitching around him.

Wetherholt enters Sunday with a .360 on-base percentage and 14 home runs. Burleson is batting .275 with 15 home runs and 67 RBIs, while Herrera owns a .372 on-base percentage.

The Cardinals cannot depend on Walker to manufacture the entire offense himself.

Rodriguez is too experienced to let one hitter control the game. St. Louis will need quality at-bats throughout the lineup.

Crooks Makes His Case

Crooks’ ninth-inning home run Saturday did not change the outcome, but it gave the Cardinals something positive to carry into the finale.

The ball traveled 443 feet and cleared the swimming pool in right-center field, a reminder of the left-handed power Crooks can provide.

The Cardinals have been looking for production from the lower portion of the order. A dangerous bat near the bottom changes the way pitchers approach the hitters in front of him and gives the lineup another opportunity to turn over for Wetherholt, Herrera and Walker.

Whether Crooks starts Sunday or is available from the bench, Saturday’s swing was one of the most encouraging moments of an otherwise frustrating afternoon.

Pallante Must Control the Running Game

Arizona’s offense is not built solely around home runs.

The Diamondbacks have hit only 91 home runs, the second-lowest total in Major League Baseball entering Sunday, but they can create pressure with speed, aggressive baserunning and contact throughout the lineup.

Corbin Carroll is the obvious threat.

Carroll enters the finale batting .250 with a .345 on-base percentage, 14 home runs and the speed to turn a walk or routine single into immediate scoring pressure.

Pallante must vary his timing, hold runners close and give his catcher an opportunity to control the running game.

The Cardinals also cannot provide Arizona with extra baserunners through walks or defensive mistakes. Ground-ball pitchers depend on their defense, but every additional ball put in play creates another opportunity for something to go wrong.

Pallante’s best defense will be getting ahead in the count and keeping the Diamondbacks from sitting on one pitch.

The Arenado Factor

Nolan Arenado made his presence felt Saturday.

The former Cardinal entered the series with plenty of attention surrounding his first games against St. Louis as a member of the Diamondbacks. His two-run double Saturday helped turn a manageable deficit into a 4-0 hole.

Arenado enters Sunday batting .244 with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs.

Those numbers do not jump off the page, but the Cardinals already know what he can do when a pitcher makes a mistake with runners on base.

Pallante cannot allow the situation to dictate the pitch.

The Cardinals must attack Arenado according to the scouting report, not the history attached to the matchup. He is no longer the leader in their clubhouse or the third baseman standing behind their pitchers.

He is simply another dangerous hitter trying to beat them.

Bullpen Considerations

Both clubs have been forced to use important relievers during the first two games.

The Cardinals needed their late-inning bullpen to survive Friday after Arizona tied the game in the eighth. The Diamondbacks were forced to use Sewald in the ninth inning Saturday after Crooks’ home run reduced a five-run lead to two.

That makes length from Pallante particularly valuable.

The Cardinals do not need seven shutout innings. They need Pallante to keep the game under control and avoid forcing Oliver Marmol to begin covering innings before the middle of the game.

The ideal formula remains the same: get five or six competitive innings from the starter, keep the score within reach and create a path to Riley O’Brien in the ninth.

Sunday could become a bullpen game late.

The team that gets the most length from its starter will have more options when it does.

Keys to the Game

Make Rodriguez Work

Rodriguez averages six innings per start because opponents allow him to work efficiently. The Cardinals need long at-bats, foul balls and runners on base early.

Win the First Three Innings

St. Louis played from behind throughout Saturday. Falling into another early hole against Rodriguez would make the afternoon considerably more difficult.

Get Runners on Base Ahead of Walker

Wetherholt and Herrera must continue setting the table. Walker is at his most dangerous when Arizona cannot simply pitch around him.

Keep Carroll and Marte Off Base

Arizona’s lineup becomes much more dangerous when Carroll and Ketel Marte reach ahead of Arenado and Gabriel Moreno.

Turn Ground Balls Into Outs

Pallante will give the Cardinals’ infield opportunities. Winn, Wetherholt, Fermín and the rest of the defense must convert them.

Take Advantage of Scoring Opportunities

The Cardinals had chances to make Saturday interesting before the ninth inning. Against Rodriguez, they may not receive many. The first opportunity could be the best one.

Game Day Outlook

The pitching matchup favors Arizona on paper.

Rodriguez has been one of the National League’s better starters, and the Cardinals will have to solve a quality left-hander while playing without the platoon advantages they might prefer.

But Sunday is not played on paper.

Pallante has won 10 games because he competes, keeps his team within reach and provides the Cardinals an opportunity to win nearly every time he takes the mound.

If he controls the strike zone and St. Louis can scratch out three or four runs against Rodriguez, this becomes the kind of game the Cardinals’ bullpen can finish.

The goal entering the weekend was to win the series.

That opportunity remains directly in front of them.

Final Thoughts

The Cardinals have already shown both sides of themselves in Arizona.

Friday, they absorbed a late punch and answered in the ninth inning.

Saturday, they made mistakes, fell behind early and could not complete the comeback.

Sunday will tell us how they respond.

A victory sends the Cardinals to Anaheim with a winning start to the second half and creates more separation from a direct Wild Card competitor.

A loss allows Arizona to move within a half-game and leaves St. Louis having missed an opportunity after winning the opener.

The series is tied.

The matchup is difficult.

The stakes are clear.

It is time to settle the Desert Storm.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

Check out The Cardinal Chronicle for more St. Louis Cardinals coverage, daily farm reports, prospect updates and old-school baseball commentary:
www.cardinalchronicle.com

Photo Credit: Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB