Andre

Pallante

Pallante was lifted one out shy of his third straight quality start and fifth overall. He had really good velocity today, averaging 95.3 mph with his fastball and topping out at 97.4 mph, but four walks hurt him. Two of those came just before he was pulled in the sixth. Pallante will take a 4-3 record and a 4.18 ERA into his next start in Baltimore.

Pallante gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out four. He’s won back-to-back starts and lowered his ERA from 4.75 to 4.11 in the process. The 26-year-old right-hander’s xFIP is still half a run lower at 3.61, which points to some more good games on the horizon. Pallante is lined up to face the Tigers at home next week.

Pallante was excellent on Saturday, holding the Nationals scoreless over the first seven innings. He would start the eighth giving up a base hit with one out before Dylan Crews took him deep for a two-run homer to finally put the Nationals on the board. That would end Pallante’s day with seven strikeouts. The 26-year-old right-hander will take a 4.36 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and a 28/16 K/BB ratio across 43 1/3 innings into a start against the Royals in Kansas City on Friday.

The 26-year-old right-hander also issued four free passes on the night while recording just one strikeout. All of the damage done against him came in the third inning, as Pete Alonso, Starling Marte and Francisco Alvarez each delivered run-scoring singles. Pallante got three swings and misses on 72 pitches in the contest, posting a miserable CSW of only 14 percent. With Michael McGreevy beating down the door, Pallante could be in danger of losing his spot in the Cardinals’ rotation if he doesn’t turn things around soon. He’ll carry a 4.75 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and a 21/16 K/BB ratio (36 innings) into Saturday’s matchup against the Nationals in Washington.

Pallante was left on the hook for the loss during Monday’s series opener when he surrendered a solo homer to Jose Trevino and a go-ahead triple to Noelvi Marte a couple frames later. He finished with four strikeouts and only issued two walks. He’ll carry a respectable 4.13 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 20/12 K/BB ratio across 32 2/3 innings (six starts) into a home outing on Saturday against the red-hot Mets.

Pallante also issued three free passes on the evening while recording only one strikeout. He kept the Braves off the board through the first three innings, but the wheels fell off for him in the fourth as they pushed three runs across — including a solo homer off the bat of Sean Murphy. Pallante also served up a solo homer to Matt Olson before exiting in the fifth. The right-hander got seven swings and misses on 83 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 24 percent. He’ll look to bounce back as he brings a 4.05 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a 16/10 K/BB ratio (26 2/3 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Reds in Cincinnati.

Pallante had velocity issues this spring, but he figured it out at the end of March and actually averaged 95.2 mph with his fastball in his season debut. Since then, though, he’s fallen off to 93.8 mph, 93.2 mph and 92.4 mph tonight. He has a 3.22 ERA for the season, but he won’t keep that up for much longer if he can’t arrest this decline. He’ll face the Braves next.

Pallante worked around loads of hard contact to keep the Phillies off the board in this one. They had 10 hard-hit balls in total, but just two of those 10 were hit in the air. Half of their 18 balls in play were hit on ground, which is exactly what Pallante is out there trying to accomplish. Sometimes those balls find holes, and sometimes they practically all find a glove like they did in this game. He’s scheduled to face the Astros in another tough matchup next time out.

Pallante struck out six with a 30 percent whiff rate and 27 percent CSW, but he also walked three batters and had just a 41 percent zone rate on the day. As a result, he had thrown 92 pitches by the middle of the fifth inning and was pulled after allowing a solo home run to Rafael Devers. Pallante has a 3.86 ERA through his first two starts of the season but is tough to trust next week against the Phillies.

The game was delayed, and ultimately banged due to the poor weather in Boston. It’s been rescheduled for a split doubleheader beginning Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET.