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TWINS AUGUST 2024

'Just stay present': Pallante logs another quality start

Righty hurls 7 innings of 1-run ball as questions about future of rotation arise

MINNEAPOLIS -- The first time through the Twins’ order on Friday night, ANDRE PALLANTE looked vulnerable. But on his next two trips through the lineup, Pallante was virtually invincible.

Pallante pitched seven innings of one-run ball and Brendan Donovan homered on Friday as the Cardinals beat the Twins, at Target Field.

Pallante (6-6) sparkled in his second straight quality start, holding the Twins to one run on five hits and two walks and five strikeouts. He limited the Dodgers to two runs in seven innings on Aug. 17, giving him back-to-back wins for the first time since late June.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing, however. The Twins put runners on the corners with one out in the first before Pallante induced a double-play grounder off the bat of Twins cleanup hitter Matt Wallner.

The start of the second inning played out the same way, with Twins runners on first and third with one out. This time, Pallante issued a walk to load the bases, and Austin Martin followed with a dribbler up the third-base line. He just beat Nolan Arenado’s throw to first base for an infield single, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.

But Pallante quickly got locked in from there. Willi Castro hit a grounder to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who fired home in time to get the forceout at the plate. Trevor Larnach then struck out to end the threat, stranding three runners.

“You’ve got Gold Gloves at first and third,” Pallante said, crediting the team’s infield defense. “That second inning could’ve gotten out of hand if those two plays get botched, but they made great plays on them. Even though one of them didn’t get an out, that’s important.”

Pallante’s eyes were deceiving him during that 27-pitch second inning, when he assumed the walk and three hits he allowed were due to poor execution. A quick trip to the clubhouse for an impromptu video session told him otherwise.

“They were patient the first time through, I felt like. I went back and watched that second inning, and I’m like, ‘I made a lot of good, really close pitches, and they laid off of them,’” Pallante said. “[After that, I threw] them on the plate rather than just off, and they were so patient that they’re just not ready to hit. Third time through, I felt like they were swinging at everything I threw over the plate. I wasn’t scared of contact, and things worked out for me.”

The second inning was the Twins’ last decent chance to score, as Pallante allowed only a two-out single to Ryan Jeffers in the third after that. The 25-year-old right-hander retired 17 of the last 18 hitters he faced, including the last 13 in a row.

Pallante used his four-seam fastball on 66 of his 99 pitches, inducing 11 ground-ball outs, and time and again, Twins hitters showed frustration at their inability to square up that pitch.

“A lot of soft contact, some hard ground balls were at people. They scored their one on a couple ground balls … but overall, he did an incredible job today,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.

Twins third baseman Royce Lewis broke his bat multiple times while putting the ball in play, on different pitches.

“Dude, I don’t even know. Everything moves. He’s got good stuff. He’s in the big leagues for a reason,” Lewis said. “As long as they execute, it doesn’t matter who it is -- knuckle [curve], non-knuckle [curve], … fastball. If you execute your pitches, you can get guys out. So he did that tonight very well.”

Much has been made of the impending return of veteran starters Lance Lynn and Steven Matz from the injured list, which will create a logjam in the rotation. Marmol said he wants his players to focus on what’s in front of them rather than things they can’t control.

“Andre’s doing a really nice job, and he needs to stay right where he’s at mentally,” Marmol said. “He doesn’t have to worry about anything but making his next start. Just stay present. He did that today and gave us a hell of a shot. I mean, that was an impressive outing.”