The St. Louis Cardinals will turn to right-hander Andre Pallante when they attempt to snap a season-high six-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon against the host Milwaukee Brewers.
Pallante (4-3, 4.75 ERA) will oppose left-hander Jose Quintana (4-1, 2.66).
The Brewers took the second game of the four-game series 3-2 on Friday night behind Freddy Peralta, who allowed one run over six innings. William Contreras drove in a pair of runs for Milwaukee. The Cardinals scored one run in the ninth off closer Trevor Megill but stranded the tying run at second base.
“It’s a tough stretch,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “We had a really good stretch, and now we’re learning some things. We’ve got to find a way through it.”
“It (stinks), don’t get me wrong,” he added. “But there’s been good conversations that have come out of it, and we’ll be better for it. But some guys are not feeling it right now, and we’ve got to continue to grind. It’s not ideal, but it’s part of 162.”
Since losing at Toronto 10-9, the Cardinals have just four runs over their last three games.
Pallante, who has not won since May 16, is 2-1 with a 5.26 ERA over his last seven starts. He is 0-0 with a 7.84 ERA in two starts in June, allowing nine runs in 10 1/3 innings.
His 4.75 ERA is almost a full run higher than last season, when he was 8-8 with a 3.78 ERA. Pallante is 0-1 with 5.16 ERA against Milwaukee in 13 career appearances but only one start.
Alec Burleson had two hits Friday for the Cardinals, his fourth multi-hit game in his last 12, and is batting .357 during that span.
Milwaukee improved to 6-26 when scoring three runs or less. The Brewers are 32-7 when scoring four or more runs.
Quintana will make his third start since coming off the injured list with a left shoulder impingement.
He is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in his last two starts, allowing three runs total in a pair of five-inning outings. In his most recent outing last Saturday, the Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Caleb Durbin’s walkoff homer in the ninth.
“We’ve been playing better baseball the last three weeks,” Quintana said afterward. “As soon as I came here, I knew we had a really good group in here, and now we are starting to show that. So it’s amazing to be a part of.”
Quintana, signed as a free agent before the season, was 4-0 with a 1.14 ERA in his first four starts with the Brewers. He is 7-4 with a 3.81 ERA in 15 career starts against the Cardinals, including a 7-1 win in late April, allowing one run on five hits in five innings.
Sal Frelick had two hits, scored two runs and had his 13th stolen base on Friday. Over his last 20 games, he is hitting .329.
–Field Level Media
