The host St. Louis Cardinals got another strong outing from starter Andre Pallante as they eked out a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
Pallante (9-4) spread six hits across six innings, allowing just one run in the win. He outdueled Merrill Kelly (5-7), who also made it through six for Arizona but gave up all three Cardinal runs in the process.
Alec Burleson, Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church had the RBIs for St. Louis as they took the opener of this four-game set. JJ Wetherholt had a two-hit day, staying hot after he hit two home runs in the Cardinals’ win over Kansas City on Sunday.
Tommy Troy hit his third home run of the season and Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll each added two hits apiece for the Diamondbacks, who were left to rue going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
A single and a steal by Church leading off the third sparked a St. Louis rally which led to the first run of the game. With one out and runners on first and third, Burleson served a high chopper over the first baseman for a run-scoring infield single.
The Cardinals made Kelly pay for more traffic on the bases the very next inning. After Lars Nootbaar walked and Masyn Winn got a single to lead off the frame, Jordan hit a sacrifice fly and Church turned provider with an RBI single to make it a 3-0 St. Louis advantage.
Arizona got on the board in Pallante’s last inning. After Carroll hit a leadoff double, Nolan Arenado marked his return to Busch Stadium with an RBI groundout two batters later. Arenado — a Cardinal from 2021 to 2025 — was playing his first game back in St. Louis after being traded to Arizona this past offseason.
Troy’s 444-foot solo shot to dead center against Ryne Stanek with one out in the seventh further trimmed the deficit to 3-2. Stanek was chased after giving up a single to Marte, but JoJo Romero retired Geraldo Perdomo and preserved the Cardinals’ lead.
Romero and George Soriano combined for a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Riley O’Brien came in and recorded the final three outs for his 19th save of the season.
