Pallante Takes the Ball as Cardinals Try to Salvage Split

THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Game Day Preview: Pallante Takes the Ball as Cardinals Try to Salvage Split 
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals will try to turn one dramatic victory into something more meaningful when they host the Chicago Cubs this afternoon in the finale of their four-game series at Busch Stadium.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CT.

Right-hander Andre Pallante will start for St. Louis against Cubs right-hander Javier Assad. The game will be televised on Cardinals.TV and carried on KMOX and WIJR.

Chicago Cubs: RHP Javier Assad, 6-1, 3.86 ERA, 42 strikeouts
St. Louis Cardinals: RHP Andre Pallante, 11-6, 3.77 ERA, 83 strikeouts

The Cubs originally appeared prepared to start left-hander Shota Imanaga, but Chicago has adjusted its pitching plans and will instead give the ball to Assad.

The Cardinals enter the finale at 54-54 after rallying for a 3-2 victory in 10 innings Wednesday night. Chicago fell to 61-47 but still owns a two-games-to-one advantage in the series.

St. Louis needs another victory today to earn a split and avoid losing another home series during a difficult stretch of the season.

Wednesday’s victory did not come easily.

Dustin May and Matthew Boyd matched scoreless innings throughout the night. May allowed only one hit over five shutout innings, walking two and striking out three in what may have been his final appearance in a Cardinals uniform.

With the trade deadline approaching Monday, May remains one of the most logical players for St. Louis to move. The hugs he received from teammates after leaving the game reflected the possibility that everyone in the dugout understood what the moment might mean.

If it was May’s final start for the Cardinals, he left them with a good one.

Unfortunately, the offense could not reward him while he remained in the game.

Boyd threw seven scoreless innings for Chicago, and the game remained 0-0 through nine. The Cubs finally broke through in the top of the 10th when Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run home run off Luis Gastelum.

Considering the way the Cardinals have struggled since the All-Star break, that swing could have ended the night.

Instead, St. Louis answered.

Nathan Church scored on Jordan Walker’s fielder’s choice, cutting the deficit to one. Iván Herrera then delivered the biggest swing of the night, driving a two-run double into the gap to score the tying and winning runs.

Herrera finished with three hits and gave the Cardinals their sixth walk-off victory of the season.

It was a much-needed moment for both Herrera and the club.

The Cardinals had lost three consecutive games, including the first two of the series by a combined score of 17-5. Chicago collected 31 hits during those two victories and made St. Louis look overmatched in nearly every phase of the game.

Wednesday was different.

The Cardinals pitched well, played cleaner defense and found a way to win when the game appeared to have slipped away.

Now they must prove that the victory was more than one memorable night.

A split would not repair everything that has gone wrong over the past several weeks. It would not erase the offensive inconsistency, the questionable pitching decisions or the games lost by a bullpen that has struggled to establish dependable roles.

But after losing the first two games of the series, a split would qualify as a reasonable recovery.

Pallante gives the Cardinals a legitimate opportunity to complete it.

The right-hander is coming off one of his best starts of the season. He threw seven scoreless innings against Cincinnati on Saturday, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out eight in a 7-0 Cardinals victory.

Pallante controlled that game from the beginning.

He worked ahead, kept the ball on the ground and avoided the extended innings that have created trouble for him in other starts. His sinker stayed at the bottom of the strike zone, and his breaking pitches gave Cincinnati’s hitters something else to consider.

That is the version of Pallante the Cardinals need this afternoon.

Chicago’s lineup punished mistakes during the first two games of the series. The Cubs scored early, created constant traffic and forced Cardinals pitchers to work from the stretch.

Alex Bregman, Seiya Suzuki, Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ and Crow-Armstrong have all contributed during the series.

Crow-Armstrong remains especially dangerous.

His home run Wednesday was his 24th of the season and nearly carried Chicago to its third consecutive victory at Busch Stadium. He combines power with elite speed and can change a game at the plate, on the bases or in center field.

Pallante must keep him off base and prevent the Cubs from creating immediate pressure at the top of the order.

That begins with strike one.

When Pallante falls behind, he is forced to elevate pitches or work too carefully around the edges of the strike zone. Chicago has too many experienced hitters to be given favorable counts.

Pallante does not need to overpower the Cubs. He needs to make them hit his pitch.

The sinker should be the foundation of the game plan. Ground balls, double-play opportunities and quick innings will allow him to work deep and protect a bullpen that covered five innings Wednesday night.

The Cardinals used Justin Bruihl, Ryne Stanek, Riley O’Brien and Gastelum after May departed.

Most of the bullpen work was effective, but asking the relief corps to cover another large portion of the game would create an unnecessary risk.

Pallante has already shown he can provide seven innings.

The Cardinals could use another seven today.

Chicago will counter with Assad, who has been used as both a starter and reliever this season.

The 29-year-old has appeared in 17 games, making eight starts. He owns a 1.12 WHIP and has walked only 16 batters over 65⅓ innings.

Assad’s most recent appearance came Saturday in Pittsburgh, when he threw three scoreless innings, allowed one hit and earned a save in an 11-0 Cubs victory.

He has not made a traditional start since July 11, when he allowed two runs over five innings against Cincinnati.

That recent usage adds some uncertainty to Chicago’s pitching plan.

Assad may be asked to provide a normal starter’s workload, or Cubs manager Craig Counsell may treat the afternoon as a more flexible bullpen game.

Either way, the Cardinals cannot allow Assad to settle into a comfortable rhythm.

He is not a high-strikeout pitcher, but he changes speeds, limits walks and generally keeps the ball away from the center of the plate. Hitters who become impatient can produce plenty of early-count ground balls and routine flyouts.

The Cardinals must make him work without becoming passive.

There is a difference between patience and watching hittable pitches.

St. Louis left the bases loaded against Boyd in the sixth inning Wednesday and finished 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position before the 10th. The lineup eventually delivered, but waiting until the final two outs of an extra inning is not a sustainable offensive plan.

The Cardinals need production before the ninth inning.

JJ Wetherholt must continue creating opportunities near the top of the order. Walker and Alec Burleson need to drive the baseball in the middle. Herrera must build upon his three-hit performance, while Lars Nootbaar, Masyn Winn, Blaze Jordan and Church need to extend innings.

Herrera’s performance was particularly encouraging.

His offensive production had declined during the club’s recent slide, and the Cardinals often struggled when he was not reaching base or driving the ball.

Wednesday, he looked more like the hitter who earned his first All-Star selection.

He stayed through the baseball, used the entire field and delivered when the Cardinals needed their best hitter to change the game.

As Oliver Marmol said afterward, when Herrera is good, the Cardinals are good.

That may oversimplify the responsibilities of an entire lineup, but there is plenty of truth in it.

Herrera cannot be expected to carry the club alone. The Cardinals need several hitters producing together rather than waiting for one late swing to rescue them.

Today’s game also carries another layer of significance.

It is the Cardinals’ final home game before Monday’s trade deadline.

After the final out, St. Louis will travel to Toronto for a weekend series against the Blue Jays. By the time the Cardinals play another game at Busch Stadium, the roster may look different.

May could be gone.

Other veterans or short-term pieces could also be moved if the front office decides the club’s current position does not justify holding them.

The Cardinals are back at .500 and remain approximately 2½ games behind Arizona for the final National League Wild Card position.

They are not buried.

They are also not playing well enough to pretend everything is fine.

That is the tension surrounding this club.

The postseason remains within reach, but the Cardinals have repeatedly failed to take advantage of opportunities to strengthen their position. They have lost winnable games, allowed late leads to disappear and struggled to generate consistent offense.

One walk-off victory cannot settle the deadline question.

Winning today would help.

A victory would give the Cardinals a split against one of the better teams in the National League. It would improve their season record against Chicago to 6-4 and allow them to leave Busch Stadium with consecutive wins rather than another losing series.

A defeat would drop St. Louis back below .500 and leave Wednesday’s comeback as another isolated highlight inside a disappointing stretch.

That is why today matters.

Not because one game will determine whether the Cardinals reach October, but because clubs remain in the race by winning the game directly in front of them.

Pallante must give them length.

The offense must make Assad work.

The defense must protect every out, and Marmol must use the bullpen according to the situation rather than predetermined inning labels.

Wednesday showed that this team still has some fight.

Down two runs in the 10th, the Cardinals could have quietly accepted another loss. Instead, Walker put the ball in play and Herrera finished the comeback.

That was a start.

Now comes the harder part: doing it again.

Win the finale.

Salvage the split.

Leave Busch Stadium above .500 and make the front office decide whether this club is still worth keeping together.

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

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