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When St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol shifted his pitching plans after the team’s Tuesday rainout, it wasn’t surprising he moved Andre Pallante back to face the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

Pallante (3-3, 5.23 ERA) blanked the Reds on three hits for six innings in a 5-3 victory on May 29 in Cincinnati. He walked three batters and walked four.

The right-hander is 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA in 13 career appearances against the Reds, including three starts. He gets another chance against them at home on Friday in the second game in a four-game series.

The Reds racked up 16 hits while routing the Cardinals 11-4 on Thursday in the opener.

“They had some really good at-bats,” Marmol said, “so throw this one out.”

Marmol originally planned to schedule a bullpen start for Friday to give his rotation an extra day of rest. When the rainout forced the Cardinals and Atlanta Braves to play a doubleheader on Wednesday, Marmol decided to start Matthew Liberatore in Game 2 and bump Pallante back two days.

Pallante is 3-2 with a 4.76 ERA in five starts this season after converting from his relief role to fill in for injured starter Steven Matz. He earned a 6-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants in his latest start, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings on June 20.

Since Matz is at least a month away from returning from his back injury, Pallante and Liberatore will compete for the fifth starter role. Liberatore made his case by throwing six shutout innings against the Braves.

The Reds will counter Pallante with Frankie Montas (3-5, 4.48 ERA), who was on the losing end on May 29 against Pallante and the Cardinals. He allowed three runs on six hits, including a Matt Carpenter homer, in six innings.

Montas struck out five and walked two in that game. He is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two career starts vs. St. Louis.

In his latest start, Montas held the Boston Red Sox to two runs on five hits in six innings on Saturday. He struck out four and walked one in a game Cincinnati eventually lost 4-3.

“He threw tons of strikes with all of his pitches,” Reds manager David Bell said. “If he continues to do that, with his stuff, he’s got a lot of success ahead.”

Reds infielder Jeimer Candelario was out of the lineup for the second game in a row on Thursday. He was diagnosed with hamstring tendinitis that is contributing to knee soreness.

That nagging issue made the Thursday return of third baseman Noelvi Marte from his 80-game, performance-enhancing-drug suspension more important. Marte went 3-for-5 with a stolen base, three runs and an RBI in his season debut.

“The talent Noelvi is, the player we’ve seen already, that’s why it’s so important for Noelvi to be himself, go out and play hard and work to get better every day,” Bell said. “Everything else is going to take care of itself. The production and the performance will be there.”

Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson was a late scratch from the Thursday game after his wife went into labor. He headed out on paternity leave.

–Field Level Media