Pallante Leads Cards Past D-Backs as Arenado Returns to Busch

The Cardinal Chronicle
Pallante Leads Cardinals Past Diamondbacks as Arenado Returns to Busch
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

Nolan Arenado came back to Busch Stadium on Monday night wearing a different uniform.

The St. Louis Cardinals made sure he left with a loss.

In Arenado’s first game back in St. Louis as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cardinals leaned on Andre Pallante, scratched out just enough offense, and held on late for a 3-2 win in the series opener at Busch Stadium.

It was not a loud offensive night for St. Louis. It was not one of those games where the lineup buried an opponent early and gave the ballpark a chance to exhale.

This was tighter than that.

It was a pitching-and-defense kind of win. It was a bullpen-hold-your-breath kind of win. It was the kind of game where the Cardinals had to make three runs stand up, and this time, they did.

Pallante set the tone.

The right-hander gave the Cardinals six innings, allowing one run on six hits, walking none and striking out two. He threw 85 pitches, 55 for strikes, and kept the Diamondbacks from building the kind of inning that could have changed the game.

That was the difference.

Arizona put traffic on the bases, but Pallante did not give away free passes, did not lose the strike zone, and kept forcing the Diamondbacks to earn everything. On a night when the Cardinals’ offense was not going to overpower Merrill Kelly, Pallante had to keep the game under control.

He did.

The game also carried a little extra emotion before much of the baseball had even been played.

Arenado stepped in for his first at-bat back at Busch Stadium and received a warm reception from Cardinals fans, the kind of response that fit the moment. His time in St. Louis did not end with a championship parade, but it did include Gold Glove defense, steady professionalism, big moments, and a player who carried himself the right way.

Cardinals fans remembered that.

Then the game moved on.

Arenado singled in the second inning and later drove in Arizona’s first run with a groundout in the sixth, but this night belonged more to the Cardinals’ pitching staff than to the former Cardinal across the diamond.

St. Louis had a chance to strike early in the first inning. JJ Wetherholt singled, Ivan Herrera followed with a single, and Alec Burleson worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out. But Jordan Walker lined out, and Lars Nootbaar grounded into a double play, letting Kelly escape without damage.

That could have become the story of the game.

Instead, the Cardinals found another way.

Nathan Church opened the third inning with a single, stole second, and moved into scoring position with one out. Herrera walked, and Burleson delivered a single to shallow right, scoring Church and giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

It was not a big inning, but it was a needed one.

The Cardinals added on in the fourth. Nootbaar worked a walk, and Masyn Winn followed with a single to left. Jimmy Crooks moved both runners with a groundout, and rookie Blaze Jordan lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Nootbaar to make it 2-0.

Church followed with a two-out single to shallow left, bringing home Winn and stretching the lead to 3-0.

That was the Cardinals’ offense for the night.

Three runs.

Seven hits.

Just enough.

Church finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base. Wetherholt added two hits from the leadoff spot. Herrera reached twice with a hit and a walk. Burleson drove in his 56th run of the season. Jordan added the sacrifice fly, giving the Cardinals another productive at-bat from a young hitter still settling into his first big-league month.

The Cardinals did leave some offense on the table. Walker went hitless and stranded five runners. The first-inning bases-loaded chance disappeared quickly. The Cardinals finished with seven hits and four walks, but only pushed across three runs.

On some nights, that gets a team beat.

Not Monday.

Pallante kept Arizona quiet through the first five innings. The Diamondbacks finally broke through in the sixth when Corbin Carroll doubled to deep right, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on Arenado’s groundout to shortstop.

That cut the Cardinals’ lead to 3-1.

Pallante got the final out of the inning, ending his night with the lead intact.

From there, it became a bullpen game.

Ryan Stanek opened the seventh and got the first out, but Tim Tawa Troy homered to center, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 3-2. Ketel Marte followed with a single, and suddenly the clean, controlled game had turned uncomfortable.

JoJo Romero came in and restored order, getting Geraldo Perdomo to ground out to end the inning. Romero returned for the eighth and got Corbin Carroll before Ildemaro Vargas flied out to center. George Soriano came in to face Arenado and got him to foul out to first, ending the inning and preserving the lead.

That left the ninth for Riley O’Brien.

O’Brien closed it out, earning the save and protecting the one-run lead. It was not a night where the Cardinals had room for mistakes. They had scored their runs early, missed a few chances to add on, and then handed the game to the bullpen.

This time, the bullpen finished the job.

The Diamondbacks finished with eight hits, but only two runs. Carroll had two hits and scored a run. Marte had two hits. Arenado went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Troy homered for Arizona’s other run.

St. Louis finished with three runs on seven hits and played clean defense.

That mattered too.

The Cardinals did not need to win this game with fireworks. They needed to win it with pitching, timely contact, and enough bullpen outs to close the door. After a rough series in Kansas City, even with Sunday’s wild 12-10 escape, Monday night was a steadier brand of baseball.

The Cardinals needed that.

They got six strong innings from Pallante. They got production from Church at the bottom of the order. They got Wetherholt on base twice at the top. They got Burleson and Jordan to bring home runs. They got the bullpen to hold a one-run lead.

And they got a win to open the series.

Arenado’s return gave the night its emotional backdrop.

Pallante gave it its structure.

O’Brien gave it the finish.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images