Tonight’s game was one to forget. The Cardinals had plenty of chances against Paul Skenes, but came up empty each time. They stranded 10 runners tonight and couldn’t come through against a pitcher they’ve been able to solve the last few times.
They almost broke through in the fourth inning, when Pedro Pages singled to left field. But Pop Warner foolishly sent Willson Contreras home from third, where he was cut down by former Cardinal Tommy Pham.
The Pirates threatened against Phil Maton in the bottom of the eighth and ultimately broke through, scoring the game’s only run on a sac-fly by Henry Davis. The Cardinals were then tasked with mounting a comeback against David Bednar.
They threatened, and almost scored the tying run, but Spencer Horwitz threw home to cut down Jose Fermin, and Davis applied the tag in time. Oli Marmol challenged, but to no avail. Bednar then struck out Brendan Donovan to end the game. Let’s break this one down.
Pallante goes seven scoreless
Tonight’s game hurts mainly because of how well Andre Pallante pitched. By all accounts, the pitching matchup favored the Pirates. But the Cardinals got Skenes’ pitch count up and chased him after five.
Meanwhile, Pallante cruised, ultimately out-pitching Skenes. He was super efficient and he held the Pirates to just one hit, striking out three batters and walking two over seven shutout innings.
When your pitcher gives you seven shutout innings, you need to find a way to get him some run support. Pallante more than deserved to win this game. He beat Skenes in St. Louis last September even. But the offense let him down, and the Cardinals have now been shut out four times in less than a week.
On a positive note, it was encouraging to see Pallante pitch well tonight in Pittsburgh. I didn’t think he was that bad against the Cubs, but he labored through five innings. This time, he bounced back in a big way and gave the Cardinals every chance to win this ballgame.
He’s struggled a bit lately, and the Cardinals have made clear that they aren’t going to pull the plug on him being in the rotation this year. Tonight, he showed why they’re making the right call to keep him as a starter.
Contreras exits
Cardinals fans were left holding their breaths in the top of the fourth when Skenes hit Willson Contreras on the hand with a 99-mph fastball. Contreras immediately winced in pain, and you could tell something was wrong. That ball caught him just right.
I was convinced he was going to be taken out of the game. It took the training staff a while to help him get comfortable. He initially stayed in the game, but I was ultimately proven correct in the bottom of the fourth when Alec Burleson was moved to first base and Garrett Hampson was put in to play right field.
Fortunately, X-rays were negative, showing only bruising and no fractures or breaks. He is still day-to-day. But if he goes down for any amount of time, the offense is going to be in trouble. He’s their only real power threat from the right side of the plate, and without him, things will be tough.
Hopefully he avoids the injured list, but he’s been hit in the hand several times dating back to last year’s game in Minnesota that took him out for the rest of the season, a game I was actually in attendance for.
I imagine he won’t be in the lineup tomorrow, but hopefully he’s good to go for the Cubs series.
Sonny Gray gets the ball tomorrow. He’ll try and follow up his complete-game shutout in Cleveland and prevent a sweep. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates. First pitch is at 11:35 a.m.