St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante is trying to get his season back on track after a sharp downturn in August.
Fellow right-hander Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates is trying to do the same.
Pallante (6-11, 5.17 ERA) and Keller (5-12, 4.34) will seek turnaround performances Tuesday night in a battle of right-handers when the Cardinals host the Pirates in the second contest of a four-game series.
St. Louis won the opener 7-6 Monday night, snapping Pittsburgh’s four-game winning streak. The Cardinals erased a 4-1 deficit and won on Alec Burleson’s walk-off solo homer in the ninth inning.
Pallante, meanwhile, has allowed 15 runs on 21 hits in 12 innings over his last three starts, all losses. He has walked seven batters and surrendered three homers.
Pallante dropped a 6-2 decision to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday in his last outing. He yielded five runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings – and added to his struggle by walking three batters, hitting two others, and allowing three stolen bases.
“The stolen bases, the walks, the hit by pitches, that’s really where they start to compound,” Pallante said. “You can’t give anything away at this level.”
Pallante has struck out only 92 batters while allowing 142 hits in 134 innings this season. Hitters put balls in play against him, so Pallante can’t afford to issue free passes.
“I think the line could have looked a lot worse than it does,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “The ball was coming out of the hand well (Monday), but how he handled some of the other aspects of the game kind of led to some frustration when you look at the running game and the stolen bases, the walks — some of them being non-competitive.
“He battled through it at the end of the day, but we just need to continue to get better.”
Pallante threw seven scoreless innings against the Pirates while allowing just one hit and two walks on July 2. He is 1-1 with a 2.20 ERA in 17 career appearances (four starts) vs. them.
Keller has allowed 11 runs on 15 hits and five walks in 7 1/3 innings in his last two starts. During a 7-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last Tuesday, he allowed five runs on seven hits while retiring only 10 batters.
He walked three batters, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch in that game.
“I think it was command,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “Free bases early, had the hit batsman and then fell behind, had some walks and just falling behind in the count is tough, especially against this (Toronto) lineup. It’s really good. When you get behind in the count, they can do some damage.”
Keller is 1-1 with a 1.33 ERA in three starts against the Cardinals this season. He blanked them for seven innings on five hits in his last outing against them, a 5-0 victory on July 2 that featured seven strikeouts and just one walk.
In his career, Keller is 3-4 with a 3.19 ERA in 16 appearances (all starts) against the Cardinals.
The Pirates may get outfielder Oneil Cruz back for Tuesday’s game. He rejoined the team after a two-game rehab assignment with Double-A Altoona after recovering from a concussion. Kelly said Oneil is considered day-to-day.
–Field Level Media
