Pallante latest Cards starter to struggle, exit early

ATLANTA -- Andre Pallante’s disappointing final line Tuesday -- 3 2/3 innings, seven earned runs on 10 hits -- was eerily similar to Dakota Hudson’s from a night earlier when he surrendered six runs on nine hits over four excruciating innings.

The truly troubling aspect for the Cardinals is that the latest two rough nights have been the norm instead of the exception over an extended stretch now. In addition to exhausting the patience of manager Oliver Marmol and pitching coach Mike Maddux and overworking the bullpen, the starters' struggles have led to large deficits and losses in five of the past seven games.

Tuesday’s 7-1 loss to the Braves at Truist Park was another example of how St. Louis has been trending downward of late. Pallante, the versatile rookie who has been a godsend most of the season for the Cardinals, was touched up for five earned runs (two home runs) on six hits before the squad recorded a third out.

“Early deficits -- when you go down early like that, it just makes it a lot tougher to get your offense going,” Marmol said of a Cardinals team that has surrendered a season-worst five runs in an inning eight times this season -- two of them coming in as many nights. “You’ve got to throw up zeros. That’s how this all works. You throw up zeros, and that keeps the offense in it. But when you give up a 5-spot, it really puts you in a tough position.”

The bloodletting, of late, among the starters has been profuse for St. Louis. Over the past seven games, Cardinals starters have an ERA of 7.83 and only one of them -- Pallante on June 29 -- made it to the seventh inning. That rough stretch has caused the Cardinals to go from first place in the NL Central on June 22 to three games back of Milwaukee -- a 12-game stretch where the starters’ collective ERA has ballooned to 5.83 and there have been only four quality starts.

“It happens and it’s baseball, but we’re all working on our inputs so we can be better and get deeper in games,” said Pallante, the only rookie on the Opening Day roster who excelled early in the season as a “bridge” reliever before moving to the starting staff a month ago. “If we can get deeper in games, we can keep the offense in it, put up more runs and win games.”

A starting staff that has been without Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz because of shoulder injuries most of the season and one that lost Jordan Hicks to the bullpen following forearm pain might need to get creative to find solutions.

Matz, who hasn’t pitched for the Cardinals since May 22, was in Atlanta on Tuesday to throw a bullpen session under the watchful eye of Maddux. He was signed to a $44 million free-agent deal in the fall and is scheduled to make a third Minor League rehab start Thursday, but there have been internal discussions about Matz making that start in Atlanta for St. Louis, according to a source familiar with the talks. After Flaherty cut his rehab stint short and ended up back on the IL, Matz will likely pitch at least one more time with Triple-A Memphis. Regardless, the fact that Matz is even in the discussion speaks volumes about the recent struggles of the Cardinals’ starters.

On Tuesday, Pallante brazenly steadied himself and quieted the Braves' potent lineup over the 2 2/3 innings following the rocky start. However, the rookie was rudely treated by Atlanta slugger Matt Olson, who doubled to the opposite field. When Austin Riley followed with another double, Pallante was out of the game early.

One moment, in particular, from Tuesday -- an opposite-field home run by Riley in the bottom of the first -- summed up Pallante’s rotten luck.

Riley poked at a 76.9 mph Pallante curveball and hit it 351 feet and into the first row of the picnic-style seating at Truist Park. Not only did the popup have just a 33 percent hit probability rate, but it would not have been a home run in half of the 30 MLB ballparks (including St. Louis’ Busch Stadium), according to Statcast.

After the ball cleared the wall, the crowd of 35,656 roared with approval and fireworks shot into the air, cameras caught the 23-year-old Pallante muttering, “You’ve got to be kidding.” Better pitch selection and placement, Pallante insisted, would allow him to avoid the rough starts and bad luck that have bedeviled the Cardinals of late.

“If you don’t go deep into games, there’s a chance you put up a couple of scoreless innings and you’re just lucky versus good,” Pallante said. “When you’re good, you’re going deep. When you’re lucky, you’re going short and sometimes lucking into a good outing. If I can just make quality pitches, I can get deeper into games.”