ST. LOUIS (AP) — Andre Pallante took a shutout into the sixth inning in his second major league start, helping the St. Louis Cardinals snap a three-game skid with a 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.
Pallante (2-0) allowed four hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings and had three strikeouts.
“I felt like I did a good job settling down,” Pallante said. “I kept my fastball down, mixed a little of my off-speed, kind of found my curveball there towards the end and got a lot of ground balls.”
Génesis Cabrera and GIovanny Gallegos combined to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless innings before Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth for his fourth save in six chances.
The win moves the Cardinals a half-game ahead of Milwaukee and into first place in the NL Central Division.
“It’s early, but it’s good,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “I don’t care how early it is, you want it to be people chasing you. You don’t want to be chasing people. Our goal is to have people chase us the rest of the way.”
Luis Castillo (2-4) allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits in six innings as Cincinnati dropped its third straight.
“He definitely kept his composure, kept making pitches,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He’s fun to watch. He can really pitch. He’s been keeping this going consistently for several starts now.”
Paul Goldschmidt walked with two outs in the bottom of the first to reach base in his 46th consecutive game. He scored when Nolan Arenado singled to right field, and Aristedes Aquino’s throw to try and catch Arenado after rounding first base skipped past Joey Votto.
Arenado then scored when Tyler O’Neill singled to third base and Brandon Drury’s throw to first skipped away from Votto, giving St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
“Those are just…