Andre Pallante, a 12-game winner in 2026, endured one of his rockiest starts of the season when he surrendered eight hits and six earned runs in a 10-3 loss to the Giants on Tuesday night. Alec Burleson smashed a solo homer for his 111th RBI of the season.
One of the best comeback stories on the St. Louis Cardinals in 2026, right-handed pitcher Andre Pallante bounced back from a disastrous 2025 season by learning to better control innings to keep them from spiraling out of control.
That was until a forgettable Tuesday night at steamy Busch Stadium for the 27-year-old Pallante.
Pallante surrendered a 461-foot homer to Bryce Eldridge in a three-run first inning and he was shelled for four more in the third inning as the San Francisco Giants throttled the Cardinals 10-3 in the second game of the three-game series.
"I'm working to eliminate those huge innings from happening," Pallante said. "When they start the inning with a bunt and then a well-executed curveball (from Pallante) ends up as a double, when you throw 162 innings, that's what happens over a full season. Ideally, I'm just trying to eliminate those innings, have better stuff and execute better two-strike pitches."
San Francisco, which has used 67 players with 16 MLB debuts because of a bevy of injuries, won the season series with Tuesday’s victory. The Giants swept the series in San Francisco last week and bounced back from Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Cardinals. The series wraps up on Wednesday afternoon (12:15 p.m. CT) when Matthew Liberatore (5-14) faces Anthony Munoz (3-1).
It was just the second time since July 29 than the Giants cracked double digits in runs and the seventh time for the season. University of Tennessee product Blade Tidwell (1-2) won despite the Giants losing six of his previous seven starts.
Pallante (12-7) lost a decision for the first time since July 9, a nine-start stretch without a defeat. He came into the night with a solid 3.45 ERA, but his ERA jumped to 3.70 after surrendering eight hits, eight runs (six earned) and two walks in five innings of work.
The first inning should have been an indicator that it might be a wacky sort of night for Pallante and the Cardinals. Gold Glove shortstop Masyn Winn, who ended Monday’s 2-1 win over San Francisco with a 98.9 mph strike to first base to beat the speedy Christian Koss, booted a ground ball on the first play of the game.
The 6-foot-7 Eldridge then demolished a 2-1 slider from Pallante, hitting it well over the bullpen beyond the right field wall. The 461-foot smash left the bat at 112.7 mph, and it was the longest home run at Busch Stadium in 2026. Since the third iteration of Busch Stadium opened in 2006, it was the seventh-longest homer.
The weirdness didn’t end there as rookie catcher Leo Bernal was called for a catcher’s interference infraction when his left foot brushed against the right foot of Giants’ second baseman Jonah Cox at the plate. Sitting up on the outside corner, Bernal went down on his right knee and extended his left leg out where it accidentally touched Cox. The obstruction call was revealed on a replay challenge by the Giants and rookie manager Tony Vitello, a St. Louis native who was managing just his second MLB game in the stadium where he used to watch games as a fan.
"I have not, no," said Cardinals' manager Oli Marmol when asked if he had ever seen a catcher's interference call with a foot. "To my knowledge, it happened (Monday night), so their radar was up for it."
The lone bright spot of the night for the Cardinals came in the bottom of the first inning when Alec Burleson pushed his MLB-best RBI total to 111 with a solo homer. His 23rd long ball of the year was a line drive that left the bat at 110.3 mph and landed in the bullpen beyond the right field wall.
Burleson’s 111 RBI are the are the most by a Cardinals left-handed hitter since legendary Hall of Famer Stan Musial had 126 RBI in 1954, a mark that has stood for 72 years.
Any momentum that the Cardinals gained from Burleson’s homer was lost in the third inning when the Giants hammered out four hits and scored four times off Pallante.
