By MATT PIKE
The St. Louis Cardinals scored six runs in the sixth inning, backing a strong start from Andre Pallante as he matched his season high with eight strikeouts in seven strong innings on way to a 7-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium.
Pallante, who improved to 11-6 on the season earning the win, allowed two hits and a walk, to go with the eight strikeouts in his seven innings before Gordon Graceffo pitched two innings in relief for the Cardinals who snapped a short two-game losing skid. After St. Louis opened the scoring in the first inning when JJ Wetherholt reached base on Elly De La Cruz’s fielding error to lead off and scored on a single by Burleson to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, St. Louis went on to score the rest of their runs in the six run sixth inning.
Wetherholt walked to start the sixth, and after Jordan Walker popped out to the catcher, six straight Cardinals reached base with one out in the inning before Nathan Church laid down a safety squeeze bunt that scored Bryan Torres for the second out of the inning and gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead. Iván Herrera snapped an 0-for-12 skid when he hit a two-run double to left field to start the scoring in the frame, driving in Wetherholt and Alec Burleson. After Lars Nootbaar walked and Masyn Winn singled to load th bases, Torres lined an RBI single to left field, scoring Herrera, and Blaze Jordan dribbled a two-run single to right field, bringing in Nootbaar and Winn, to end Hunter Greene’s night.
At the plate, Burleson was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Herrera was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Walker was also 2-for-4 with a double, while Jordan was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Next St. Louis and Cincinnati wrap up their series. Kyle Leahy (7-4, 3.59 ERA, 79K's) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Andrew Abbott (5-6, 3.89 ERA, 90K's) for the Reds, looking to earn his first win since June 20th in the finale. First pitch is at 1:15pm, coverage begins at 1:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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