ST. LOUIS — Taking the mound a day after rotation-mate Dustin May went the distance for a nine-inning shutout of the Padres, starter Andre Pallante provided the Cardinals with his longest outing of the season.

Pallante tossed a season-high seven innings, struck out six batters, walked one and kept the Padres quiet enough on Tuesday at Busch Stadium to help lead the Cardinals to a 3-2 win.

Pallante began the outing by retiring the first 14 batters he faced before a single spoiled a bid at perfection before it could reach the fifth inning. The right-hander started 19 of the 24 batters he faced with a first-pitch strike and got timely strikeouts in the sixth and seventh that helped him hand a one-run lead to the Cardinals' bullpen.

The Cardinals (40-31) received a hold in the eighth inning from Ryne Stanek, who struck out two batters. A save in the ninth from closer Riley O'Brien sealed a series win over San Diego.

The sharp pitching led by Pallante's seven innings ensured the three runs the Cardinals' lineup charged to starter Michael King's pitching line would not go to waste.

Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church provided run support from the bottom of the lineup with RBI hits in the second inning. In the fifth, after King exited his start, Lars Nootbaar gave the Cardinals a third run on a sacrifice fly against Yuki Matsui.

K’ing his was through 7

Able to keep the Padres to one run through five innings as he collected nine ground ball outs to begin his start, some swing and miss against one of the Padres’ high-profile bats helped Pallante leave the sixth inning with a lead intact.

Pallante ran into two-out trouble during the frame when Fernando Tatis Jr. singled. Jackson Merrill barreled a first-pitch slider off the wall in center field that scored Tatis and cut the Cardinals’ lead to one run and put Merrill in scoring position for Manny Machado.

Facing Machado for a third time, Pallante offered the Padres' slumping slugger three consecutive sinkers to start the at-bat and then threw a slider off the outer half of the plate that got Machado to chase for a strike.

Pallante offered Machado a second slider but saw it miss away. A third slider was fouled off. Sticking to the slider for fourth consecutive pitch, Pallante got Machado to whiff at a slider in the dirt for an inning-ending strikeout.

Like he did to get through the sixth, Pallante got through the seventh by way of the “K.”

In the seventh, Pallante needed three pitches to strike out Xander Bogaerts, looking. And in the next at-bat, an eight-pitch battle with Gavin Sheets ended with an Automated Ball-Strike Challenge initiated by catcher Ivan Herrera, which overturned a 3-2 knuckle curve originally called for a ball.

The overturned pitch allowed Pallante to match his season-high innings. A groundout to the next batter he faced allowed him to surpass it.

Perfect start snapped, shutout gone

In the same inning, Pallante’s perfect start to Tuesday’s outing came to an end, so too did the shutout.

Pallante retired each of the 14 batters he faced before Samad Taylor reached base with an infield single.

Taylor grounded a ball right back to Pallante that deflected off Pallante's glove and toward Masyn Winn at shortstop. Winn fielded the ball barehanded and made a strong throw to first base.

Taylor was ruled safe on the snap throw. A challenge initiated by the Cardinals confirmed it.

Working with a runner on for the first time on Tuesday, Pallante located a 2-2 knuckle curve on the outer half of the plate to Ty France that was hit to center field. The line drive one-hopped its way to Church, who made a throw to the plate that was not in time to nab Taylor.

The inning ended on that play as Herrera nabbed France at second base in his attempt to stretch the single into a double.

Bottom two knock in two

The early lead Pallante worked with was provided by the bottom of the Cardinals’ lineup, and with two outs.

Two at-bats after Nootbaar worked a leadoff walk on seven pitches, Jordan gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with an RBI double that earned him his first RBI at Busch Stadium.

Called up on the road in Minnesota, Jordan fell into an 0-2 count against King after an 0-0 sinker ran in on him and appeared to hit the knob of his bat and after an 0-1 sweeper was fouled away. Jordan saw a second sweeper and lined it past shortstop Bogaerts and into left field for his first-career double.

Behind Jordan, Church kept the Cardinals' lineup moving with a line drive of his own. Church pulled an 0-1 change-up from King to right field for a single that scored Jordan.

Nootbaar adds to lead

After their lead was cut to one on France’s single, Nootbaar got the run the Cardinals lost back with some situational hitting against the lefty the Padres called in to neutralize him.

Nootbaar stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners and one out. He was met with a matchup against the lefty Matsui, who was brought in to relieve King.

Nootbaar saw two sliders for balls from Matsui and fouled off a fastball that the left-hander left over the middle of the plate. He took another slider low and away for a ball before getting a second fastball over the middle of the plate that was lifted deep enough to center field for Herrera to tag up and score.

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