ST. LOUIS -- Andre Pallante has had his ups and downs in 2025, but his dominance over the rival Reds has remained constant.
Pallante, who came into Friday with a 2.18 ERA in 16 career games (six starts) against the Reds, limited Cincinnati to two hits and one walk over six-plus scoreless innings, and the Cardinals won 6-1 on a night when they rested veteran stars Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.
Pallante, who has seen numerous strong outings go by the wayside with one bad inning in 2025, improved to 6-2 all-time against the rival Reds. He allowed a third-inning, opposite-field single to No. 9 hitter Matt McLain and a single to Elly De La Cruz to open the seventh inning before leaving to an ovation from the Busch Stadium crowd. He struck out four in one of his best all-around outings of the season.
“I think just being able to suppress some of their better hitters and keeping them on the ground,” said Pallante when asked about his success against the Reds over his 3 1/2-year MLB career. “I’ve just had some good [luck] with them.”
Pallante’s luckiest moment of the night came in the fourth inning when Elly De La Cruz reached on a fielder’s choice but was picked off at first by catcher Pedro Pagés.
“That was something we were aware of because he likes to run a lot and that’s why we picked off right away,” said Pagés, whose role will take on more importance in the coming weeks with Iván Herrera likely out two to six weeks with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring revealed by an MRI on Friday morning. “You just never know when he’s going to go, so being able to pick him off there was huge for us.”
Added a giddy Pallante, who spun around and pointed back at his catcher after the pickoff throw to get De La Cruz off the bases: “I mean, [De La Cruz] is a terror on the basepaths, and there’s nothing worse than having him out there. So, having Pedro pick him off, it was like a 1,000-pound weight off my shoulders. It was so awesome for Pedro to do that because he’s been so good defensively for us this year.”
The Cardinals got Pallante a run of support in the third inning. Masyn Winn doubled Brendan Donovan to third, and red-hot hitter Alec Burleson blasted a fly ball to deep center for a run-scoring sacrifice fly. In the seventh inning, the Cardinals added five runs of insurance to break the game open. Winn, Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar each had an RBI in the inning, and the Cardinals scored twice more on a throwing error by Reds third baseman Gavin Lux.
Thomas Saggese, the No. 5-ranked prospect in the Cardinals system, per MLB Pipeline, had a single off Cincinnati starter Brady Singer in the second inning and reached on the throwing error in the seventh inning. Saggese found out at noon from Triple-A manager Ben Johnson that he was being promoted to the big leagues to replace the injured Herrera. Saggese said the four-plus-hour drive from Memphis to St. Louis was good at calming his nerves, but he mistakenly thought the game was starting just after 7 p.m. instead of the 6:15 scheduled time to accommodate the postgame Cole Swindell concert.
“I wasn’t stressed but I don’t know what other people felt,” said Saggese, who was unaware that the Cardinals held their lineup on Friday afternoon until Saggese physically showed up at Busch Stadium. “I actually thought for most of the drive that the game was at 7 but then I realized an hour out that it was at 6:15.
“But [the drive] gave me some time to process what was happening. But it’s kind of crazy because your whole life changes a little bit. But having been here before and having been here earlier this year, that helps a lot, too. But it was nice to have that drive to say, ‘OK, I’m going back to the big leagues, I know what to expect and I’ve done it before.’”
Fresh off a series sweep of the White Sox in Chicago on Thursday, the Cardinals rested Arenado and Contreras as they started a stretch where they play 13 of the 16 games against foes from the NL Central, seven of which will be against the rival Cubs. Pallante’s solid outing got the Cards off to a great start on this big stretch.
“Whether the bullpen is used or not used, I’m still trying to go nine innings,” he said. “None of that should affect what I do.”