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If Monday night marked Andre Pallante’s last appearance in the Cardinals’ starting rotation this season, he probably deserved a better outcome than the one he got.

Pallante, a right-hander, took the loss on a night when he gave up just three runs. While he wasn’t dominant, he also wasn’t cannon fodder. All seven hits he allowed were singles — three that didn’t leave the infield — and he wriggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation having allowed two runs instead of letting the game get out of reach.

Pallante scratched his way through five innings despite a meandering curveball and a sinker that veered wildly off course at times. Of course, Pallante's outing got lost once the Texas Rangers scored three runs in the seventh inning with the help of two fielding errors and a two-run home run.

The four-run advantage proved too much for the Cardinals to overcome in the final third of the game. The Cardinals fell 6-3 in the first game of their three-game set with the Rangers in front of an announced crowd of 34,281 at Busch Stadium.

The loss marked the fourth in the past five games for the Cardinals (54-52), and it put them in a tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates (54-52) for second place in the NL Central Division. Both teams sit seven games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (61-45).

“If you put yourself in Pallante’s shoes today, it’s really hard to do anything different,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “He pitched his game. Throughout the course of that game, I think 8 out of 18 or 19 groundballs ended up hits — which is hard to do and hard to repeat.

"As far as pitching his game, he did what he normally does. He attacked with that fastball.�

Pallante, who began this season in the bullpen for the Cardinals, entered this season having not made a start in the major leagues since July 2022. Early struggles this season led the Cardinals to send him back to the minors.

While with Triple-A Memphis, he stretched out as a starting pitcher and continued to refine his pitch arsenal to address his lack of consistent effectiveness against right-handed hitters.

During that time, it also became clear that the Cardinals starting pitching depth remained precarious at-best. Left-hander Steven Matz went down with a back injury at the beginning of May. He’s set to begin a rehab assignment on Thursday. The Cardinals shut down Matz's previous rehab assignment, in June, after three appearances due to lingering soreness.

Zack Thompson should have been the next in line, but he experienced inconsistencies and a drop in velocity. He went back to the minors in late April, and he has remained there. Matthew Liberatore, while capable of flashing intriguing performances in a starting role, has seemed better-suited for a relief role since the start of the season.

The club’s pitching prospects at the highest level of the minor leagues were deemed by the organization as not yet ready for major-league starting roles.

Pallante (4-5) returned from the minors and stepped into the starting rotation on May 29. Through his first several outings, Marmol remained hesitant to name Pallante the fifth starter. Pallante’s standing on the roster seemed almost perpetually temporary.

In 10 starts this season, Pallante has gone 4-4 with a 3.61 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, a .245 opponent’s batting average with 43 strikeouts and 18 walks in 52 1/3 innings.

In his previous four starts leading into Monday, Pallante held opponents to a .193 batting average and posted an ERA of 2.19. He’d gone at least six innings in each of his last three starts prior to his matchup with the Rangers.

“Probably the most growth I’ve seen in a player this year, if we’re talking about mentality,� Marmol said. “How he uses his stuff is who he is. But when it comes to how he’s taking the mound — his overall mound presence, his determination, his focus, his preparation, you can go down the list — he has grown a ton.

"He’s pitching with a lot of confidence. There’s times when you’re in the big leagues and you question whether you’re a big leaguer or not. Then you kind of go over that threshold where you know you’re a big leaguer. I feel like he’s there where he knows he belongs here.�

Now, Pallante’s place in the rotation has become a question mark again. The Cardinals acquired starting pitcher Erick Fedde from the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade on Monday. Fedde, who has gone 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA this season, will join the club’s rotation later this week in Chicago for the series against the Chicago Cubs.

“We all hear it, it’s not like it’s a secret, but that’s part of what I’m working on — staying focused on (going) pitch by pitch,� Pallante said of handling the buzz and speculation surrounding the trade deadline. “All I can control is the pitches I execute. I’m just trying to stay focused on that.�

Neither Marmol nor president of baseball operations John Mozeliak declared a plan going forward for the starting rotation, although Mozeliak acknowledged Pallante appeared a likely choice to move to the bullpen.

Mozeliak seemed to leave open the possibility that the addition of another starter might provide an opportunity to give rest to the rotation. It wasn’t clear if he may have been alluding to a six-man rotation or possibly being able to rest one of the club’s veteran starters.

“Obviously, our rotation has been very successful this year,� Mozeliak said. “But as you enter August, people get tired. Being able to have a fresh arm and someone that we can go to that was having the success Erick was having was something we desired.�

Pallante didn’t give any indication that he’d been informed what role he’d fill going forward.

“We just have to see what they’re going to do,� Pallante said. “I make pitches. That’s what I do. Wherever that is, whatever role that is, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.�

Monday, Pallante retired the first five batters he faced against the Rangers, including three strikeouts. He even recorded a strikeout against Marcus Semien, despite throwing two pitches that hit backstop in the air during that at-bat.

The Rangers scored first with a two-out RBI single by Corey Seager in the third inning. That came after Josh Smith reached on a soft grounder between home plate and first base that went for an infield single. Smith then advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch.

“I didn’t really have my curveball working today,� Pallante said. “It wasn’t very good. I only executed one. That was the one that guy got a single back up the middle on. …

“I felt like my two-seam in the first inning I was throwing it up at the backstop. Those were the two fastballs that went way up there. It was just slipping out of my hand, a hot day like this. I’m not a guy that uses rosin. I never really have.�

The Cardinals handed Pallante a one-run edge in the bottom of the third thanks to veteran slugger Matt Carpenter’s two-run home run off Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi (8-4).

In the fourth inning, Pallante allowed a leadoff single to Wyatt Langford, then got former Cardinals Adolis Garcia to fly out for the first out of the inning.

However, the Rangers swatted three consecutive hits. The third hit, a bases-loaded RBI single by Jonah Heim, tied the score. Then Leody Taveras’ grounder to first base drove in the go-ahead run and accounted for the second out. Pallante got another grounder to end the inning and strand two men on base in the frame.

Pallante allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks in five innings. He also struck out five. He stranded six men on base.

Cardinals rookie reliever Chris Roycroft allowed three runs (two earned) in the seventh inning. The Cardinals commited a pair of fielding errors, one by left fielder Alec Burleson and one by third baseman Nolan Arenado. Then Roycroft gave up a two-run home run to Nathaniel Lowe.

The Cardinals cut into the four-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh when Michael Siani hit a one-out bases-loaded RBI single to right field. However, Masyn Winn lined into an inning-ending double play, and the Cardinals didn’t put a man on base in the final two innings.