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Cardinals' Right-Hander Hit Hard by Giants, Loses for First Time in Nine Starts
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- Cardinals' Right-Hander Hit Hard by Giants, Loses for First Time in Nine Starts
Cardinals ' manager Oli Marmol discusses Andre Pallante 's rough outing in a 10-3 loss to the Giants at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night.
One of the best comeback stories on the St. Louis Cardinals in 2026, right-handed pitcher Andre Pallante bounced back from a disastrous 2025season by learning to better control innings to keep them from spiraling out ofcontrol.
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That was until a forgettable Tuesday night at steamy BuschStadium for the 27-year-old Pallante.
Pallante surrendered a 461-foot homer to Bryce Eldridge in athree-run first inning and he was shelled for four more in the third inning asthe San Francisco Giants throttled the Cardinals 10-3 in the second game of the three-gameseries.
"I'm working to eliminate those huge innings from happening," Pallante said. "When they start the inning with a bunt and then a well-executed curveball (from Pallante) ends up as a double, when you throw 162 innings, that's what happens over a full season. Ideally, I'm just trying to eliminate those innings, have better stuff and execute better two-strike pitches."
San Francisco , which has used 67 players with 16 MLB debutsbecause of a bevy of injuries, won the season series with Tuesday's victory. TheGiants swept the series in San Francisco last week and bounced back from Monday's2-1 loss to the Cardinals. The series wraps up on Wednesday afternoon (12:15p.m. CT) when Matthew Liberatore (5-14) faces Anthony Munoz (3-1).
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It was just the second time since July 29 than the Giants cracked double digits in runs and the seventh time for the season. University of Tennessee product Blade Tidwell (1-2) won despite the Giants losing six of his previous seven starts.
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Pallante (12-7) lost a decision for the first time sinceJuly 9, a nine-start stretch without a defeat. He came into the night with asolid 3.45 ERA, but his ERA jumped to 3.70 after surrendering eight hits, eightruns (six earned) and two walks in five innings of work.
The first inning should have been an indicator that itmight be a wacky sort of night for Pallante and the Cardinals. Gold Gloveshortstop Masyn Winn , who ended Monday's 2-1 win over San Francisco with a 98.9mph strike to first base to beat the speedy Christian Koss , booted a groundball on the first play of the game.
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The 6-foot-7 Eldridge then demolished a 2-1 slider fromPallante, hitting it well over the bullpen beyond the right field wall. The461-foot smash left the bat at 112.7 mph, and it was the longest home run at BuschStadium in 2026. Since the third iteration of Busch Stadium opened in 2006, itwas the seventh-longest homer.
The weirdness didn't end there as rookie catcher Leo Bernalwas called for a catcher's interference infraction when his left foot brushedagainst the right foot of Giants' second baseman Jonah Cox at the plate.Sitting up on the outside corner, Bernal went down on his right knee andextended his left leg out where it accidentally touched Cox. The obstructioncall was revealed on a replay challenge by the Giants and rookie manager TonyVitello, a St. Louis native who was managing just his second MLB game in thestadium where he used to watch games as a fan.
"I have not, no," said Cardinals' manager Oli Marmol when asked if he had ever seen a catcher's interference call with a foot. "To my knowledge, it happened (Monday night), so their radar was up for it."
The lone bright spot of the night for the Cardinals came inthe bottom of the first inning when Alec Burleson pushed his MLB-best RBI totalto 111 with a solo homer. His 23rd long ball of the year was a linedrive that left the bat at 110.3 mph and landed in the bullpen beyond the rightfield wall.
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Burleson's 111 RBI are the are the most by a Cardinals left-handedhitter since legendary Hall of Famer Stan Musial had 126 RBI in 1954, a markthat has stood for 72 years.
Any momentum that the Cardinals gained from Burleson'shomer was lost in the third inning when the Giants hammered out four hits andscored four times off Pallante.
