By MATT PIKE
St. Louis Cardinals starter Andre Pallante allowed just one hit to the Miami Marlins through seven innings, and the Cardinals put up a big five run inning on way to a big 7-1 series opening win at Busch Stadium against the Marlins on Monday evening.
The Cardinals opened the scoring in the third inning as Alec Burleson homered for a second game in a row, sending the ball sailing to center field for his 14th home run of the season. St. Louis extended that lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after Yohel Pozo doubled, Pozo coming home to score on a throwing error by Marlins catcher Agustín Ramírez following a wild pitch by Edward Cabrera.
With the 2-0 lead, the Cardinals held that until the seventh, when they scored their final five runs of the game. With the bases loaded, following a double by Victor Scott II, and a steal of third base by Scott, with back to back walks to Brendan Donovan and Iván Herrera, catchers interference with Burleson at the plate brought Scott home to score. With two outs, after a strikeout by Willson Contreras, Masyn Winn cleared the bases with a double, scoring Donovan, Burleson and Garrett Hampson who pinch ran for Herrera.
With Winn on second, Jordan Walker drove in the final run for the Redbirds with a double of his own. The Marlins scored their lone run of the game in the ninth inning on an RBI single by Heriberto Hernandez, driving in Jesús Sánchez after his one out walk in the inning.
Pallante improved to 6-7 with the win, pitching seven innings and giving up one hit while walking one and striking out four. At the plate, Winn was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. Burleson was 1-for-2 with a walk and the home run with two RBIs.
St. Louis continues their series with Miami tomorrow. Sonny Gray (10-4, 4.33 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals against a former Cardinal in Sandy Alcantara (5-9, 6.66 ERA) for the Marlins. First pitch is at 6:45pm with coverage being joined around 6:35 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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