While the St. Louis Cardinals have shopped for starting pitching help ahead of the trade deadline, converted reliever Andre Pallante has made a strong push to stay in the rotation.

He is 4-3 with a 3.42 ERA in nine starts while filling in for injured starter Steven Matz.

Pallante, who is 4-4 with a 3.92 in 18 appearances overall, gets the start on Monday when the Cardinals host the Texas Rangers to open a three-game series.

In his first start after the All-Star break, Pallante held the host Pittsburgh Pirates to one run on three hits in six innings on July 22. He struck out three and walked two in a game the Cardinals eventually lost 2-1.

“I felt a little, maybe a little froggy from the 10 or 11 days between throwing with the All-Star break and stuff,” Pallante said. “Towards the end there, I was able to find a little bit more of the (strike) zone, and they were little more aggressive, put balls in play earlier, helped with the pitch count.”

In his only career appearance against the Rangers, Pallante struck out three batters and allowed one hit in 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

The Cardinals snapped a three-game losing streak with their walk-off victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday, while the Rangers come to town after getting swept in three games by the host Toronto Blue Jays.

The Rangers’ pitching staff was taxed Sunday after scheduled starting pitcher Jon Gray felt right groin discomfort during warmups and was shut down without throwing a pitch.

Reliever Jonathan Hernandez was pressed into duty as the opener in the 7-3 loss, and Michael Lorenzen worked four innings after he retired just two batters in a starting role on Saturday.

“Get ready to play St. Louis, we’ll put this behind us,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told Bally Sports. “You’re going to hit bumps in the road, and this was a tough one. Two starters don’t get through the first and you have to keep fighting. You don’t have a choice in this game.”

These circumstances make it more important for right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (7-4, 3.31 ERA) to deliver another strong performance.

Eovaldi struck out 10 batters and walked none in seven innings of a 10-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. He allowed two runs on four hits and recorded 11 ground ball outs.

“I don’t know if it was his best, but he was really, really good,” Bochy said after that game. “He’s thrown some really nice games and has a lot of those quality starts under his belt. But he did a terrific job there. We go down 2-1, but his command got better, everything got better as the game went. Another just great job by him.”

In four career starts against the Cardinals, Eovaldi is 0-2 with a 3.42 ERA.

The Cardinals designated veteran reliever Giovanny Gallegos for assignment Sunday and promoted reliever Kyle Leahy from Triple-A Memphis.

This change freed up a 40-man roster spot as the Cardinals explored potential trades for pitching help.

“That was a very tough conversation because I have a ton of respect for Gio,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s thrown some meaningful pitches for this organization from the time that we got him in the trade, and he’s taken the ball a lot. He’s always said yes, been extremely competitive and he’s been a big part of that clubhouse when it comes to modeling what it looks like to be a leverage reliever.”

–Field Level Media