Cardinals bullpen hangs tight for win over Diamondbacks and Nolan Arenado

Daniel Guerrero, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jun 22, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — Tasked with needing to record seven outs to keep a one-run lead intact, the work from the final three Cardinals relievers to appear on Monday night vs. the Diamondbacks ensured the quality start from Andre Pallante and the run support he earned did not go to waste.

An effort that included scoreless outings from JoJo Romero (one inning), George Soriano (1/3 of an inning) and Riley O'Brien's 19th save of the year bridged to a series-opening, 3-2 win over Arizona that came on the same night as Nolan Arenado’s return to St. Louis.

Welcomed by the “Tarps Off” section in right field with chants of “Thank you, Nolan” and a roll call request in the bottom of the first inning, the Cardinals' former third baseman went 1 for 4 with one RBI in his first game back at Busch Stadium since being dealt last winter. Arenado received a standing ovation in his first at-bat and tipped his helmet to the crowd, drawing some apparent emotion from the three-time Cardinals All-Star.

The run produced by Arenado came in the sixth inning on a groundout that allowed Corbin Carroll to score from third base for Arizona’s first run after they trailed 3-0.

The Cardinals (42-34) took a 3-0 lead by the end of the fourth inning. After they squandered a chance to score with the bases loaded and no outs in the first inning. The Cardinals received their first run from Alec Burleson when he singled in the third inning. They pushed across another two runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from rookie Blaze Jordan and a single from rookie Nathan Church.

The run support and work from the bullpen were enough for Pallante (9-4) to earn his fourth consecutive winning decision and his fifth in his previous six starts.

Pallante turned in his third consecutive quality start with six innings and one run allowed to Arizona. He’s held opposing teams to five runs over 19 innings over his previous three starts.

Arenado makes return

In his first game back as a visiting player following the January trade that sent him back to the National League West, Arenado received an invite to participate in the “Tarps Off” roll call when he took the field in the first inning. He singled to lead off the second inning after the announced crowd of 22,050 at Busch Stadium applauded the former Cardinal in his return game.

Arenado responded with some familiar play.

He pulled a single to left field in his first at-bat and displayed his steady glove at the position where he claimed two of his 10 Gold Gloves. The secure defense included an inning-ending double play that Arenado turned to end the third inning.

With Cardinals on first and second base and one out in the inning, Arenado fielded a grounder Jordan Walker hit to his backhand, ran to tag third base for the force out and, while on the run, made an accurate throw to first base for the third out of the inning.

Pallante’s snazzy snag helps calm fifth

In a fifth inning, Pallante’s quick reaction to snag a comebacker from Geraldo Perdomo helped prevent the frame from bursting.

Returning to the mound with a 3-0 lead, Pallante hit Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with a 3-2 sinker that ran in on Gurriel and gave up a double on a line drive from Tim Tawa. The double put two runners into scoring position for Ketel Marte with Geraldo Perdomo to follow.

Meeting Marte for the third time in the series-opener, Pallante fired a 96.2 mph fastball at the bottom of the strike zone with the count 1-0. Marte hit a grounder back at Pallante with a 104.3 mph exit velocity that Pallante snagged cleanly as he finished his delivery, leading to a run down between home and third base with Gurriel breaking for home.

The Cardinals tagged Gurriel out on the base paths but not before Tawa advanced to third base and Marte reached second base.

Working with two runners in scoring position for a second consecutive at-bat, Pallante finished a six-pitch battle with Perdomo by coaxing a softly hit grounder that ended the frame.

Back-to-back breakthroughs

Held scoreless entering the third inning after leaving the bases loaded in the first inning, the Cardinals broke through against Merrill Kelly for runs in the third and fourth frames. Church, a graduate of El Toro (California) high school years after Arenado starred there, left his fingerprint on both run-scoring scenes.

Church opened the third inning with a single to center field and stole second bases early in JJ Wetherholt’s at-bat. Wetherholt advanced Church a base. Following a walk to Ivan Herrera, Burleson chopped a ground ball that bounced over the head of first baseman Pavin Smith, who held Herrera at the bag, for a single that scored Church.

After Jordan’s sacrifice fly to center field was deep enough to allow Lars Nootbaar to score and Masyn Winn to tag up and advance to third base, Church pounced on the first pitch he saw from Kelly, leading to a single that score Winn for the Cardinals’ second run.

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