Andre Pallante retired 17 of the last 18 batters he faced in seven strong innings, and Lars Nootbaar hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the fourth inning to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
Brendan Donovan hit a home run, Masyn Wynn drove in two runs, and Luken Baker drew three of the nine walks by the Cardinals. This win marked their third straight victory after being a season-high 12 games behind NL Central leader Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Pallante (6-6) went seven innings for the second consecutive start, a career first for the 25-year-old.
“It’s not just cutting, but it has some depth to it. It’s a different fastball,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said, praising Pallante’s best pitch. “It’s not the most comfortable at-bat.”
Pallante managed to leave the bases loaded after allowing just one run with one out in the second inning and did not let another runner get into scoring position, leading to the Twins’ fourth loss in their last five games.
“I’m really proud of him,” said catcher Willson Contreras, who went 3 for 5. “He composed himself.”
The Twins began a nine-game homestand by falling one game behind Kansas City into third place in the AL Central, two games behind leader Cleveland. They are also leading Boston by 3 1/2 games for the final wild card spot.
Pallante, with his unusual windup that includes a hitch and a leg kick before a deliberate delivery, gave up five hits and two walks while striking out five. Trevor Larnach struck out in all three at-bats, and Royce Lewis went 0 for 3 with three broken bats against him.
“Third time through, I felt like they were swinging at everything I threw over the plate,” Pallante said. “I wasn’t scared of contact, and things worked out for me.”
Twins starter David Festa (2-3) pitched only 3 2/3 innings and left the game trailing 3-1. Opponents are hitting .134 (9 for 67) in their first at-bats against Festa but .393 (24 for 61) in second at-bats.
