Pallante gives Cards 6 solid frames before beleaguered 'pen closes it out

ST. LOUIS -- With the return of former Cardinal star Nolan Arenado to Busch Stadium in the backdrop, the Cardinals needed to avoid letting their longtime third baseman become a leading storyline at the plate on Monday night.

A trying weekend for Cardinals pitching in Kansas City left manager Oliver Marmol staring at a color-coded sheet pertaining to recent bullpen usage on Monday afternoon.

“That was insane,” Marmol said before Monday’s game, reflecting upon a weekend in which the Royals outscored the Cardinals by seven runs (30-23). Specifically in Sunday’s Cardinals win in which St. Louis scored 12 runs, Marmol deployed seven relievers behind an uncharacteristically brief outing from Dustin May.

“There’s certain outings you want to learn something from,” Marmol said. “Then there’s certain ones where you just tell yourself it was an off day and then you show up the next day.”

So, Monday’s challenge was to take that bullpen usage chart and crunch the numbers in a way that could allow for the Cardinals to find their way through the series opener against the D-backs.

To even reach the point of that quandary carrying relevance, the Cardinals would need another good outing from Andre Pallante. They got it, with Pallante delivering six innings of one-run baseball to put the bullpen in position to save a 3-2 Cardinals win.

Pallante’s gem was the sixth time over his past seven starts in which he has limited opposing lineups to two or fewer runs. The stretch dates back to May 12, and Pallante has lowered his ERA from 4.46 to 3.59 since then.

The growth has been even more pronounced when compared to the pitcher he was in 2025, an aspect that Marmol doesn't want to see get lost in the shuffle.

“I think this is a reminder for all of us of the importance of giving people a chance,” Marmol said. “You think, a year ago, two years ago, we sat in this room and there were plenty of nights where it was, ‘Is this his last start?’

“You give him enough opportunity to show what he’s capable of doing, but also enough opportunity to allow him to grow. Now we’re seeing a guy that goes out there and does a really nice job every outing. … None of that’s possible unless you give that opportunity.”

A workmanlike three runs against Arizona starter Merrill Kelly was enough for Pallante and the Cardinals to provide the bullpen with a 3-1 lead as Marmol’s piecemeal effort in extracting a win from a beleaguered bullpen began.

Ryne Stanek recorded two outs in the seventh, but permitted a majestic Statcast-projected 444-foot homer to Tommy Troy to tighten the score. Stanek turned things over to JoJo Romero after a Ketel Marte base hit.

Romero navigated the rest of that top of the seventh, then was replaced by George Soriano with an out to go in the eighth -- a longtime Arenado observer like Marmol knew better than to permit the slugger to face a lefty.

The bridge to Riley O'Brien held up, bringing about a save situation for the Cardinals' closer in a one-run game.

After O’Brien’s 12-pitch appearance Sunday in Kansas City saw him allow two runs (including a home run) and a hit-by-pitch before orchestrating the eventual game-ending assist on a comebacker to the mound, Monday’s game simply didn’t leave room for that type of margin.

He answered the bell with a clean ninth inning, allowing the Cardinals to survive the series opener despite a precariously perched pitching plan.

“I know the whole team’s counting on me to come in and do my job,” O’Brien said. “I just kind of embrace that.”

Monday marked an immediate return into the hot seat for O’Brien after Sunday’s close call. He didn’t earn a save in the scorebook Sunday after entering with a four-run lead before narrowly securing the team win in the finale against the Royals.

In his role, the ability to turn the page, as he had to do before Monday night, is everything.

“There’s always some frustration right after the game, especially with kind of a poor performance,” O’Brien said. “But my thing is, I just can’t stew on it for too long. I take the time I need to be frustrated with it. Then, kind of by the end of that night, I’m trying to just flush it, focus on what I can do to recover and make sure I’m feeling good the next day. Show up the next day and do my job.”