Andre Pallante allowed just one hit over seven innings as the St. Louis Cardinals edged the visiting Cleveland Guardians 2-1 Sunday afternoon.
Lars Nootbaar scored from second on a wild pitch with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning for the Cardinals (79-77), who won for the fifth time in seven games.
Pallante (8-8) allowed one run while walking two and striking out four. Andrew Kittredge handled the eighth inning for St. Louis and Ryan Helsley closed out the ninth to earn his 47th save.
Gavin Williams allowed one run on four hits in 5â…” innings for the Guardians (90-67). He walked two and struck out three. Reliever Tim Herrin (5-1) took the loss.
Nolan Arenado hit a leadoff single in the second inning for the Cardinals, but Brendan Donovan grounded into a double play.
Nootbaar and Matt Carpenter drew walks to start the third inning. Williams defused the situation by getting Pedro Pages to pop out and Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson to ground out.
Pallante rolled through the first five innings. He held the Guardians hitless, coaxed eight groundouts and walked just one batter — who was subsequently picked off first base.
Myles Straw broke up Pallante's no-hit bid in the sixth inning with a leadoff single. He stole second base, stole third after Brayan Rocchio walked, then scored on Austin Hedges ' bunt to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals tied the score 1-1 in the sixth inning. Winn hit a leadoff single and scored when Arenado's two-out popup fell safely into shallow right field.
St. Louis moved ahead 2-1 in the seventh inning. Nootbaar was hit by a pitch leading off and Pages drew a two-out walk. On a 3-2 pitch to Winn, Andrew Walters threw a wild pitch with the runners moving. Nootbaar scored from second base when the ball caromed toward the Cardinals dugout.
Donovan hit a two-out triple in the eighth inning, but Michael Siani grounded out to strand him.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians lose last 2 in St. Louis after wrapping up AL Central title
