Pallante Gets the Ball as Cards Look to Build on May’s Masterpiece

The Cardinal Chronicle
Pallante Gets the Ball as Cardinals Look to Build on May’s Masterpiece
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The Cardinals opened this series with the kind of pitching performance that can reset a clubhouse, quiet a bullpen phone, and make a manager sleep a little better.

Now comes the follow-up.

After Dustin May delivered a one-hit, complete-game shutout Monday night in a 3-0 win over the San Diego Padres, St. Louis returns to Busch Stadium on Tuesday looking to secure the series and keep the momentum moving in the right direction.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. CT, with Andre Pallante getting the ball for the Cardinals against Padres right-hander Michael King.

Monday night belonged entirely to May. The right-hander carried a perfect game into the seventh inning, allowed just one hit, struck out nine, walked one, and finished the first complete game of his Major League career. For a Cardinals club that needed stability after a choppy weekend in Minnesota, May gave them more than a win. He gave them a reset.

That matters.

The Cardinals’ bullpen had been asked to wear a lot lately, and some of those innings were not clean. May took care of that problem himself Monday night. No parade of relievers. No late-inning tightrope. No bullpen scramble. Just one starter taking the baseball, keeping it, and finishing the job.

That is old-school baseball, and there is still room for it.

Now Pallante gets his turn to keep the line moving.

Pallante enters Tuesday at 7-4 with a 3.88 ERA. He has been one of the more important arms in the Cardinals’ rotation, not because every outing is spotless, but because he competes, keeps the ball on the ground, and gives St. Louis a chance when he works ahead. Against a Padres lineup with enough name value and athleticism to punish mistakes, Pallante’s command will be the story.

The formula is not complicated. He needs first-pitch strikes, ground balls, and quick innings. He cannot let San Diego build traffic with walks ahead of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, Xander Bogaerts and the rest of a lineup that still has plenty of danger even while the club has been struggling.

San Diego has dropped hard in recent weeks, but that does not make the Padres harmless. It makes them urgent. Teams with expectations do not enjoy being pushed around, and after getting one-hit Monday night, the Padres should come into Tuesday with a sharper edge. The Cardinals should expect a better offensive response.

That makes early offense important for St. Louis.

The Cardinals did not pile up runs Monday, but they did enough. Jimmy Crooks delivered the biggest swing with a two-run double in the fourth inning, giving May the cushion he needed. Alec Burleson added the third run, continuing to show why his steady bat has become such a valuable part of this lineup.

That kind of production is what the Cardinals need again Tuesday. They do not have to turn every night into a fireworks show. But they do need traffic. They need competitive at-bats. They need to make Michael King work.

King enters at 4-5 with a 3.46 ERA and 72 strikeouts, giving San Diego a quality arm in Game 2. He has the stuff to miss bats, and if the Cardinals start chasing early, he can turn the evening into a long one. St. Louis needs patience without passivity. Make him throw strikes, but do not let hittable pitches go by just for the sake of running up a count.

The Cardinals’ offense continues to have several paths to doing damage.

Jordan Walker remains the middle-order power threat who can change the game with one swing. Burleson continues to bring reliable left-handed production. Masyn Winn gives the lineup energy and defense. JJ Wetherholt adds polish and table-setting ability. Crooks showed Monday that he can come through in a run-scoring spot. And Blaze Jordan’s arrival has added another bat worth watching.

That depth matters in a series like this.

The Padres are too talented to assume Monday’s result will carry itself into Tuesday. May’s masterpiece was special, but it only counts once. The Cardinals still have to come back, play clean baseball, and find a way to win the middle game.

That is often the difference between a nice opener and a real series win.

For Pallante, the job is to avoid the big inning. For the offense, the job is to keep pressure on King. For the defense, the job is to make every routine play behind a contact-oriented starter. For the bullpen, the job is to be ready, but hopefully not overused.

The Cardinals are back at Busch Stadium, and Monday night gave the home crowd something worth remembering. Tuesday gives them a chance to turn that performance into something more useful than a highlight.

A series win.

May gave them the reset.

Now Pallante gets the chance to build on it.

Game Info
Matchup: San Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals
When: Tuesday, June 16, 2026
First pitch: 6:45 p.m. CT
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis
Probable Pitchers: RHP Michael King vs. RHP Andre Pallante
King: 4-5, 3.46 ERA, 72 SO
Pallante: 7-4, 3.88 ERA, 56 SO
Broadcast: Cardinals.TV / KMOX / WIJR

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports &  MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals | AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

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